Quadrangle
by RhiannonoftheMoon
Summary: COMPLETE Be careful what you wish for: wise advice for a hanyou who can’t make up his mind and may end up loosing it all. Or maybe it’s Kagome’s turn to choose? Rated for adult situations, violence and language.
1. Wish Gone Wrong

A/N: I don't know if this plot line has been done before. I haven't seen it, but considering that there are over 53000 IY fanfics posted on FFnet, there is a very good chance it has been done several times. So, no yelling required.

It's also inspired by some of the frustration I've had with the last few episodes of IY. You might even recognize some of the imagery. (Spoiler warning: if you haven't seen the episodes aired in November '05, skip the rest of this paragraph). Seriously, Kikyou has been dead for 50 years and everyone's like, "Oh no! Kikyou's been killed!" She was already fucking dead! I wanted to smack Inuyasha silly. I'll save the spankings for his brother. Hee hee. (End of warning)

It's just a bit of fun, folks. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter1 – Wish Gone Wrong

Kagome stared at the completed Shikon no Tama in her hand, the purified power within swirling just under its crystalline surface. To think they had come so far, suffered so much, for such an insignificant thing. And she had suffered the least of them.

She raised her eyes to Sango's straight back, the light of the campfire throwing dancing shadows around her though the proud taijiya did not move. Head held high, her thick, black ponytail tossed by the wind, she was staring into the night, silently mourning the passing of her younger brother Kohaku. He had died one month ago at the hands of Naraku, who had ripped the jewel shard out of his back in a desperate attempt to save his own miserable life. Her tears had long since dried, but each night, she took a moment to remember him and her fallen kinsmen.

Miroku moaned softly in his sleep as he struggled against the effects of the poisonous insects that he'd sucked into the void in his hand. The wind tunnel was now closed, but the toxins had given him a fever and chills wracked his lean frame. Kagome had done what she could for him; now she had to wait for the antidote to take effect. She hoped he lived to enjoy his life now that the curse of Naraku had been broken.

Shippo stirred in her lap, his fluffy red hair and tail the only parts she could see of the little kit who had curled against her stomach. A full-blooded fox demon child, she had adopted him as her own son and loved him as such. He'd lost his parents to the Thunder Brothers, who had killed them for a shard of the jewel she now held in her hand.

The only member of their little band of shard hunter that was missing was Inuyasha, the half-dog demon she'd been in love with for the past four years. But instead of remaining with them after their victory over their vanquished foe, he was off searching for his lover, Kikyou. She had been injured during the fight and disappeared after the battle had ended. Once the hanyou had been sure Kagome was relatively unhurt, he'd rushed after her. That had been the most painful wound of the battle.

The one person that Kagome wouldn't have minded seeing out of their lives for good, she admitted to herself with a pang of guilt, other than Naraku himself, was still alive…okay, undead. Fifty-four years ago, Naraku had tricked Kikyou and Inuyasha into betraying each other over this very jewel, and fifty-four years ago she had sealed him to a tree and died. Four years ago, Kagome had unsealed him and Kikyou had been brought back to undeath in a clay body by the magic of the witch Urusae. Kikyou had claimed Inuyasha's life as her own, intending to take him back to hell with her, and Inuyasha seemed willing enough to follow her.

So much suffering.

And Kagome? She hadn't had her family killed or cursed. She'd escaped with nothing more than a broken heart. The jewel was whole, Naraku dead, her errand complete, but Inuyasha was not hers and she doubted he ever would be. After all, she was his love's reincarnation, a pale echo of the woman he truly desired. She would give him the jewel so that he could make his wish and then she would return home through the Bone Eater's well, a time portal between modern day Tokyo and feudal Japan. There was nothing left to keep her in this era; she _should_ go home to her own time. Nothing but her friends and adopted son…

Like a manifestation of her own thoughts, the hanyou stepped into the ring of firelight, the warmth of the flame licking over his silver hair and small, triangular ears. His golden eyes were cast down, refusing to meet her own. Closing her hand over the jewel, and she dropped her head hid her face with her black bangs. She knew he could smell her tears, but she didn't want him to see them.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" Inuyasha grouched at the one of the four people around the fire who was not a part of their group. Sesshomaru, his full demon half-brother, ignored him, continuing to stare at a point in space that none other could see. As beautiful as he was deadly, with a mane of impossibly long, silver hair and golden eyes he was a contrast of effeminate grace and masculine presence. He sat at ease on a log, one knee bent and the other straightened before him, with his right, and only, arm resting on his knee.

"How dare you insult my Lord with your filthy words!" Jaken hopped to his feet and squawked in a shrill voice, his two-foot green body gyrating in indignation.

"That's enough, Jaken," Sesshomaru said quietly when Rin stirred in her sleep. The child had been resurrected by Sesshomaru and now followed him like a puppy. Though the demon lord seemed indifferent and compassionless, he protected her fiercely.

Inuyasha levered a glower at the imp, then turned back to his brother. "Don't you have something better to do than hang around with us?"

"Such as searching for dead women in the middle of the night? You are a fool, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru did not honor the hanyou with a glance, nor did he understand his brother's obsession with mortal women, a trait passed down from their father, perhaps, or maybe his only choice because no self-respecting demon bitch would have him. Still, he had this lovesick woman-child following him around and watching him with sad eyes while he chased the tail of an undead creature who could not bear him pups. It was obvious from her scent that she was nothing more than graveyard soil and old bones, while the other one was very much alive… and crying…again.

Her tears disturbed him, the harsh smell of salt out of place in these quiet woods. They were a sign of weakness to a youkai, but the girl was not weak as most of her peers. He'd known her in passing for the last four years, but it had been as enemies. Not a typical human, she had stood up to him fearlessly on more than one occasion, ruining his armor and defending his brother with a temerity that had captured his attention like no other human had, save for Rin. Over the years, he'd begun to recognize her as the source of Inuyasha's growing strength, though he doubted his idiot brother realized it.

He was not with the group by choice; he had been tracking Naraku himself and his group converged with that of his half-brother's when they confronted the evil hanyou. A coincidence, perhaps, but their combined strength had finally felled their enemy. The only reason he was still with them was because Ah-Un had been severely injured in the fight. Rin had been heartbroken, so instead of putting the two-headed dragon out of its misery, he had allowed the miko to treat it. The fact that she had offered to help, and then nursed it with the skill of a healer, had momentarily surprised him. The dragon was now resting with Rin curled up by its side.

"Shut the fuck up. You don't know anything," Inuyasha snapped, his cheeks heating with guilt. He knew what he was doing to Kagome, that every time he went after Kikyou, her deep brown eyes would get a little more miserable. He'd listened to her cry herself to sleep on more than one occasion when she thought he was still out looking for his first love. He hated himself for hurting her and was terribly afraid that one day, she might not forgive him, but couldn't resist seeing Kikyo. And that was all it was, he simply had to see her, sometimes hold her, but it was a betrayal of Kagome nonetheless.

"I know you are a worthless half-breed and an idiot."

"Yeah? Well why don't you tell that to my Tetsusaiga," he drew his sword with a flourish, brandishing the rusty blade as it transformed into an enormous fang. It was the only thing he had on his brother, the fact that he possessed their father's sword of destruction and Sesshomaru did not.

"Osuwari," Kagome spoke softly, her eyes still fixed on her fingers wrapped around the jewel. With a startled yelp, Inuyasha crashed to the ground, dragged down by the enchanted rosary around his neck.

"Kagome!" he protested, glad to have an excuse to be angry with her. It was better than the crushing feeling of guilt that had been plaguing him. When the spell released him, he picked himself up off the ground and sheathed his sword, sending a seething glare at his brother. He meant to send one to Kagome as well, but she wasn't looking at him. The anger faded and his ears drooped. Shoulders slumping in defeat, he slouched over to her and seated himself by her side.

"Kagome," he started, but was cut off by a wave of her hand.

"It's okay, I understand." She opened her hand, revealing the pink orb in her palm. "It's yours now." She took his hand and turned it over, rolling the jewel onto his palm.

One wish, just for him.

He stared at the Shikon no Tama, feeling its power radiating through his skin. For as long as he could remember, he had wanted to become a full demon. Did he still want that? He didn't know; the few times he'd transformed into a full demon, he had almost lost himself to bloodlust. Would Kagome stay with him now that the quest was over? Would it even be fair to ask it of her? He didn't know that, either. His heart was torn between two women who shared the same soul. Once, he had mistaken them for the same person; how wrong he had been. "I…you should keep it until we get back to the well," he said, but let it sit in his palm.

Kagome nodded, the pain in her chest constricting her breath. He expected her to go home. And why wouldn't he? She'd just be in the way of his relationship with Kikyou. She wrapped an arm around Shippo's slumbering form, holding him close against her stomach. He burrowed into her warmth, curling his fingers into her white blouse.

"That wish is wasted on one such as you. It should be given to one more deserving of its power," Sesshomaru said apathetically, as if discussing the weather.

"Someone like you, right? Fat fucking chance."

"I did not say that."

Inuyasha snorted, fisting his hand around the jewel. "Bastard. I wish our places were reversed; then you'd understand."

As soon as the words had tumbled over his lips, pink light streamed out from between his closed fingers. The light engulfed him, and then reached with cold fingers to take hold of Sesshomaru. Blinded by the brightness of the Shikon's magic, the humans could only shield their eyes with raised arms. Shippo whimpered quietly against her, turning his head away from the light, but did not wake.

Gradually, the light faded away, leaving two stunned brothers staring at each other across the campfire. Inuyasha saw himself as if he was looking in a mirror, but he knew that was impossible. He had been next to Kagome a moment ago, and he was still there… but it wasn't him! His mind reeled in confusion. If he wasn't him, then who was he? The impassive expression and slight narrowing of the other's eyes sent a chill through his body, raising his hackles: he knew that look. And he knew who he was.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, placing her hand on his red clad arm and staring up into his face.

His silver ears rotated toward her and his amber eyes lowered, fixing her with an icy stare. "Remove your hand from this Sesshomaru."

Kagome gasped and snatched her hand away as if it had been burnt. It was Inuyasha's face, his body, but it was not his soul staring at her from those pools of gold. Jaken uttered a strangled cry and fell backward in a dead faint.

"Kagome, I'm over here," Inuyasha said shakily, not liking how close she was to his brother: his brother, who was wearing his body. Clumsily, not used to his increased height or the loss of an arm, Inuyasha stumbled around the fire. The smell of her fear, the sound of her heart hammering in her chest permeated the air, and she trembled slightly as she leaned away from him. His heightened senses told him that she was afraid of him and he fought against the instincts that urged him to press his advantage; that the female should submit to his will.

"It's me, Kagome," he captured one of her hands in his, holding it awkwardly in unfamiliar claws. She flinched, instinctively scooting closer to his brother, who stared at her with distaste.

"Inuyasha, what have you done?" she whispered, extending hesitant fingers to touch the crescent moon crest on his forehead.

Sesshomaru resisted the urge to rub the place on his arm that still tingled from her touch. His heart had lurched in chest when she'd placed her warm fingers on his arm. For a moment, his entire attention had been fixed on the dark-eyed female who gazed up at him with such concern, and then he distanced himself from the confusion caused by his body's responses. Was this the curse of human blood, this uncontrollable flux of emotion and instinct? Sesshomaru had maintained a tight grasp over his youkai blood. It was apparent that Inuyasha could not.

"The fool has made his wish," Sesshomaru stated, opening the hand that clutched the Shikon no Tama. Transparent and empty, it lay in his palm like a sphere of polished quartz. He tipped his hand, letting the thing roll out and onto the ground. Sesshomaru felt his ears rotate to follow the small tinkle as it hit the dirt; hanyou ears, now his ears.

Black rage exploded from the pit of his stomach, strangling coherent thought. He drew back his fist and slammed it into face of the demon in front of him, snarling in satisfaction as he felt bones crunch under his knuckles. Before his brother could recover, he followed with another punch under the jaw, snapping Inuyasha's head back and knocking him backward onto the ground.

Scrambling in the dirt and falling when he tried to put weight on an arm that didn't exist, Inuyasha snarled back, the pain in his face evaporating as he felt his face elongate. This cold fury him was nothing like the blind wrath that gripped him in his hanyou body.

"Osuwari! Osuwari!" Kagome screamed shrilly and stood, frantic to break up the rapidly escalating fight, Shippo clinging to her shirt and yowling in protest. Sesshomaru's neck was yanked down by an irresistible force and hit the dirt with a painful thump, the rage evaporating into shock. Again, he was slammed into the ground, unable to fight it.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango sent her bone boomerang into the demon lord who was transforming as she watched. She understood that it was Inuyasha, but too many battles had shaped her instincts, and the boomerang was out of her hand before she could think. It hit him in the stomach and pinned him against a tree.

"Stop it, you two! This isn't going to solve anything!" Kagome snatched the jewel from the ground, holding it so tightly that her fingernails bit into her skin. "You'll be hurting your own bodies."

Blinking sleepily, Rin glanced between the tall, graceful demon against the tree and dog-eared one on the ground. "My lord?" she asked, approaching fearlessly and peering up at Inuyasha.

"I ain't your lord, runt," he pushed the boomerang off of him, freeing himself and warily eyeing his brother, who was fuming in the humiliating position in which he was kept. "And this wasn't my wish. I wanted to be a full demon, not a jackass."

Kagome made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. "Inuyasha no baka! This was your wish and now the jewel is dead." She paled and sat heavily next to Sesshomaru's prone form. "The well…"

"Kagome, I-"

"No! You never think, do you? You've squandered you wish and the now well is probably closed!" She burst into tears, burying her face in her hands.

"Don't cry, Kagome." Horrified at his own stupidity and Kagome's sobs, he tried to touch her shoulder.

She batted his hand away. "Don't touch me, Inuyasha! Osuwari!"

The air was knocked out of him as Sesshomaru hit the ground hard, a small crater forming around his body. Growling, he rolled his eyes to glare up at the hysterical human. She had yet to realize her mistake and he made a mental note to somehow rectify this situation. He was Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, and a human female would not subdue him.

Inuyasha winced and backed away, almost wishing it were he on the ground. More than any other time he could remember, he deserved a good sitting. "I didn't mean-"

"Osuwari!" she yelled in his face, balling her fists. He simply stood there, a stricken look on his face.

"Stop that at once, wench!" Sesshomaru snarled from the ground, his voice muffled.

Kagome blinked several times, then looked down at the demon lord turned hanyou. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sesshomaru-sama."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. "Don't apologize to him!" The comical look of outrage was out of place on those elegant features.

Miroku opened his eyes and propped himself on an elbow. "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing? Did she just call Inuyasha Sesshomaru?" he asked the demon slayer standing next to him watching the scene with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Houshi-sama, you sleep like the dead. Inuyasha accidentally wished on the jewel, and now he and Sesshomaru have…well…" she waved a hand at Sesshomaru the hanyou, who had reclaimed his seat on the log, his indifferent expression belied by the twitching of his silver ears. Inuyasha, the youkai, sat several feet from Kagome, hands planted on the ground between his feet, knees splayed apart.

He dropped backward onto his sleeping roll with a big sigh. "I've always said he was dense. What is our next move?" Sango just shook her head, completely at a loss.

XxxxxxxxxX

The wind hissed through the long, brown, dry grasses and tossed her hair into her face. She tucked the unruly strands behind her ears, and then pulled an arrow from her quiver. Her eyes searched the field for the jewel shards she knew were there; though injured, Naraku's evil aura permeated the air.

A patch of grass suddenly flattened, then moved parallel to her position, catching her eye. Squinting against the afternoon sun, she thought she saw a glimmer of pink…yes! There they were! She shouted to her friends and pointed to the waving grass, notching an arrow and releasing it in one fluid movement. The arrow flew true, arching over the field in a corona of purification.

A gray-green tentacle shot out of the grass and knocked the arrow aside, but not without sustaining damage. The tip burst off, pulpy and wet, then fell into the grass, smoking with foul, purple miasma. More tentacles erupted from the prairie, snaking toward her. Hiraikotsu spun through the air, cutting through two tentacles at once and returning to its mistress.

Something slimy wrapped around her ankle and wrenched her off her feet, hitting the ground hard on her stomach. She screamed as she was dragged toward the hub of those writhing fingers of flesh, her bow forgotten in the grass.

"Inuyasha!" she cried, her fingers scrambling for purchase in the dry soil. Blades of grass slipped through her clenched fists, slicing through the soft skin of her palms as she was pulled inexorably closer to the monstrosity, and Inuyasha did not come.

"Inuyasha!" Her throat burned with the force of her scream. Another tentacle wound around her other leg, squeezing her calf. She shuddered with revulsion and kicked frantically, trying to dislodge the slimy thing. It tightened its grip, sliding further up her leg.

A heavy gust of wind bent the grass and she was able to see her friends: Sango cradling Miroku who lay sprawled in the grass, already in the grips of the saimyoushou poison, Inuyasha scenting the air, then running after Kikyou, Rin wailing as the dragon thrashed and bled.

"No, Inuyasha! I'm over here!" she extended her arm toward his retreating back, fingers grasping at the empty air. The breath was squeezed out of her as a tentacle wrapped her chest, twining around her neck to cover her mouth. Choking on the bitter taste of slime, her panicked eyes watched him disappear into the forest without a backward glance.

Kagome sat up fast, gagging and coughing as she struggled to breath, sweat drenching her body. It's okay, Kagome, you were only dreaming," Shippo whispered to her, clinging to her clammy neck. He'd almost woken her when she'd begun to toss in her sleep; now he wished he had.

She pressed a hand against her pounding heart, panting slightly. Of course it was a dream; that wasn't how it had happened. Inuyasha had rescued her after that first tentacle had grabbed her ankle. He'd lopped off the end of the tentacle, showering them both with purple ichor, then gathered her into his arms and leapt away from the fray. That had only been the beginning, and he hadn't left her until _after_ the battle.

Glancing around the campsite, she searched for the hanyou in question, sighing in relief when she found him lounging on a log and staring into space, his red haori and hakama a beacon in the darkness. The waning moon glinted off of his cascade of silver hair and triangular ears. Feeling her stare, his golden, expressionless eyes slid toward her and she gasped. Not Inuyasha…

She dropped her head quickly and slouched back into her sleeping bag, trying to get comfortable in her damp clothing. Shippo's warm body helped stop her shivering, but didn't touch the frost on her heart. Inuyasha was not at camp, which probably meant that he'd gone looking for Kikyou again.

XxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru listened to the rhythm of the girl's breathing slow as she slipped in slumber. He found it interesting that she feared him more in this body of his brother's than in his own. But she had woken up scared, reeking of human fluids. Such vile, messy creatures, human were. Always something disgusting either going in or coming out of them. Irritation rose in a swell and a frown settled on his face. Though a half-breed, his brother's nose worked passably well. How could he stand the company of three of these filthy creatures?

He smoothed his features when he realized that he'd allowed his emotions to show on his face. Yes, the great taiyoukai had emotions, but it was weakness that prompted others to display each thought and emotion on their faces and bodies. He knew he had a reputation for being cold-hearted and indifferent; had carefully fostered that image with years of discipline and an iron will. Give the enemy no more information that was absolutely necessary and maintain the advantage of surprise; it had served him well for centuries. Lord Sesshomaru kept his thoughts and his council to himself.

However, he could not seem to exercise that control over this half-human body. It almost seemed to have a mind of its own, prompting him to do things he would never, in his right mind, had have done. He clenched his fist, remembering the rage that overwhelmed him and the satisfaction of feeling his knuckles smashing into his brother's face. Such behavior was undignified, utterly beneath him. To think that he, Sesshomaru, had started a fistfight when the great Tetsusaiga had been sheathed at his hip.

Reflexively, his eyes crept to his father's mighty fang lying next to Tenseiga and Tokijin. Inuyasha had not been pleased when he'd realized that he could no longer wield his sword. Kagome had insisted that they remove their swords before another fight broke out and they'd agreed; Sesshomaru because he had yet to figure a way out of Kagome's subduing spell and Inuyasha because he didn't like seeing his brother posses Tetsusaiga.

Sesshomaru had desired the sword since he'd learned of its power, sure that his father would bequeath it to his heir. When the old dog had died and left it to his younger son, Sesshomaru had been furious and refused to accept his father's will. The sword had been enchanted to prevent full demons from using it, but better it be useless and in his hands than used by Inuyasha.

Which begged the question: why had he not yet killed his half-brother? He had tried several on several occasions, but each time, he had stopped for one reason or another. He would not admit to defeat in any of their battles, though it may have seemed like he had been beaten to others. The time had simply not been right, he decided with a small nod. Though after this complete and utter foul-up, all thanks to the carelessness of his sibling, his hands itched to pulverize him. Now he was forced to stay with the group until they figured how to undo this spell. Returning to his lands in this condition was out of the question. He had wanted Tetsusaiga, but certainly not like this.

His eyes strayed to the sleeping miko before he could stop them. What was it that she saw in Inuyasha? The image rose in his mind of the girl, huddled over his brother with tears in her eyes, shielding him with her own body. And Inuyasha repaid her loyalty by sneaking off after the undead woman when she had fallen asleep. Sesshomaru didn't care; it wasn't his problem. His brother was a beast, and beasts had no honor.

Except that now _he_ was the beast.

XxxxxxxxX

"Stop where you are, demon!" Kikyou's stern voice halted him in his tracks. He felt her aura flare and his own strengthen in response to the challenge by an enemy power. With a struggle, he withdrew his youkai, trying to seem non-threatening to the priestess through the trees. He had been so excited when he'd finally found her scent on the wind that he'd momentarily forgotten that she probably wouldn't recognize him.

"Kikyou, it's Inuyasha," he called softly, still not used to the velvety sound of his voice.

"You lie. I sense the aura of a full youkai, not a hanyou."

"Listen to me, Kikyou," he stepped from the screen of trees, and then dodged to the side quickly as an arrow hit the tree next to his face. "Kikyou…" he whispered as he finally caught sight of her. Standing straight and proud under an enormous oak tree, she notched another arrow to her bow. If it were not for the injury on her shoulder that leaked magical essence and the musty odor of clay and bones, he could have sworn it was the same woman with whom he had fallen in love. 'It _is_ the same woman,' he insisted to himself. 'She may have changed a little, but she's still my Kikyou!'

The pale, eerie light of her soul collectors glimmered around her, lighting the depths of her narrowed eyes. Twining around her with serpentine tails, each one paused over her injury and glowed briefly before moving on. Ever so slowly, her injury was knitting.

Her fingers tightened on the fletching of the arrow and Inuyasha shook himself out of his reverie. "You have to believe me, it's Inuyasha."

"How can this be?" Kikyou held the bow steady; now that she had seen the look in his eyes, she thought that maybe it was he after all, but he was also a demon and could not be trusted. She had seen this demon before, fighting against Inuyasha… her eyes roved over the moon on his forehead, magenta stripes on his cheeks. Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands.

"There was an accident with the jewel…" he trailed off as Kikyou's eyes lit with understanding and she lowered the bow, dropping the arrow into the quiver on her back.

"The Shikon no Tama should never have been entrusted to my reincarnation," she said scathingly. "She is not powerful enough to keep it safe."

"It wasn't Kagome's fault! It was mine," he admitted, averting his gaze from her piercing eyes.

"As I said, she could not handle the responsibility, so now you reside in your half-brother's body. And the jewel?"

"It's just a dead rock, now."

She nodded once. "Why are you here, Inuyasha?"

His head snapped up. "You were injured during the battle and I thought-"

"I do not need your protection."

He took several quick steps forward, using his demon speed to reach her before she could protest and wrapped his arm around her, crushing her to his chest. She stiffened at first but could do nothing in that iron embrace, then relaxed against him and closed her eyes, feeling Inuyasha's soul through the unfamiliar body. How she missed his companionship, their conversations, the afternoons they would spend wandering the fields, Inuyasha trailing her and always on guard. All that was lost, wasn't it?

No matter what she did, Inuyasha always came back to her, despite his affection for her reincarnation. She had claimed his life as her own, and he had claimed hers in return, but she no longer wanted to drag him to hell. She had learned to exist as an undead creature but still desired to live the life as a normal woman. 'Well,' she corrected herself, 'I would rather not toil in the dirt with the peasant women of the village. Physical labor does not suit me.'

Her eyes popped open as a realization struck her. Inuyasha had said that the jewel was now nothing more than a rock, which meant that it had not been purified or destroyed. Could it be that she could gain an advantage from this situation? She hardly dared hope, but the glimmer that kindled in her heart refused to be smothered.


	2. Provoking the Miko

A/N: Hmmm…. (reads reviews) … I hate Kikyou… kill Kikyou… make her suffer… You guys don't seem to like her that much. You know, there are worse things than dieing…

Thanks to all for reading and reviewing my drivel!

FFnet: Media; Forgotten Angel – good to see you again! Don't worry, she'll get hers; LastRitez; swirling eyes; Athenaea – thanks!; Tora Delerium; Anime Lady PIMP; Neisha; Sessysmate

MMorg: gothic hanyou – yeah, thinking things through is not one of Inuyasha's strong points

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi

Chapter 2 – Provoking the Miko

Kagome groaned and rolled over, trying to shield her face from the bright morning sun. Why was it that no matter where she chose to sleep and how dense the forest canopy, a ray of sun managed to hit her in her face? It couldn't hit her somewhere else? A muffled protest and small flailing feet forced her to uncurl and release the angry red ball of fluff.

"I'm sorry, Shippo," she mumbled, sitting up rubbing her eyes with her balled fists.

"Feh," the kit huffed, burrowing back into the sleeping roll.

Kagome smiled at his Inuyasha-like response and glanced around for the hanyou. For the last couple of nights, he's stuck around, much to her delight. Perhaps Kikyou had sent him packing. A girl could hope, couldn't she?

She spotted him in the tree above her, staring down at her with a strange smirk. It had been two full days since he'd made his careless wish but she still couldn't get used to the range of emotion that flowed across the ex-demon lord's face. She had supposed that his face was immobile, like a woman who'd had one too many face-lifts, but that apparently wasn't the case. Each expression fitted his graceful features with a breathtaking beauty.

She blushed, realizing that she was admiring Sesshomaru. 'No, no, it's okay. I'm admiring _Inuyasha_, not Sesshomaru.' But no matter how she rationalized it, she had to admit he was good-looking, the kind of guy one would find on a poster her in school friends' bedrooms. She recalled a poster that Eri had bought recently, a muscled hunk wearing nothing but a pair of cut-off shorts, and blushed harder, not even wanting to go where this train of thought was leading her.

"What are you staring at, wench?" Inuyasha snapped down at her.

Kagome jumped guiltily. "Nothing, Inuyasha. Did you sleep well?"

"Who could, with you snoring like a troll?"

"I don't snore!"

"The fuck you don't!"

"Inuyasha!"

Sesshomaru cut in, the harshness of his borrowed voice at odds with the formality of his speech, "You will refrain from using such language around Rin."

Ignoring him, Inuyasha continued, "You snore so fucking loud they could hear you in the next village."

"Osuwari!" Inuyasha's smirk spread across his face into a wide grin as his brother was thrown to the ground. "Inuyasha, you did that on purpose!" Kagome stomped her foot in anger, then hurried over to Sesshomaru's prone form. She had to stop saying that word; Sesshomaru did not have a sense of humor about the subduing spell, or anything else for that matter.

She kneeled next to the demon lord, worrying her lip with her teeth. This wasn't the first time that Inuyasha had provoked her into sitting his brother; she was sure that he found some kind of perverse pleasure in it. "I'm sorry! I know I say this a lot, but I really mean it." His hanyou ears were flattened against his head, a growl vibrating against the soft soil of the forest floor. "Please don't be angry with me."

Rin sat next to Kagome, peering down at her idol with concern. "My lord, Rin is sure that Kagome-sama did not mean it."

Kagome nodded vigorously and clasped her hands under her chin. "I… I promise I'll make it up to you."

"You may start by removing these beads," he said coldly as he picked himself up off the ground, resisting the urge to wrench the accursed thing from his neck. He'd tried that already and had ended up with burnt palms.

Inuyasha shouted from his perch in the tree, "Ha! I had to wear it, now you gotta!"

Kagome looked up at him pleadingly from her position on the ground. "Now, Sesshomaru-sama, I explained why I can't do that."

"Yes," he said bitterly, "because when we are returned to our bodies, you want the beads to be in place. But we are no closer to a solution than we were two days ago."

"I know," she whispered, staring at her hands in her lap. It was true; she had no idea how to fix this. She still wore the lifeless jewel around her neck; the cold stone against her skin was somehow comforting. Inuyasha had scoffed at her but she just couldn't give it up, not after everything they'd done to get it.

She'd fibbed a little about her reasoning for removing the beads. They were her connection to Inuyasha, and she was afraid that once that link was broken, he really would be lost to her. As long as he wore them, he would come back to her, at least in order for her to take them off. In all fairness, she should take the beads from Sesshomaru and put them on Inuyasha, but she doubted the he'd sit still for that.

"Breakfast!" Sango called out cheerfully from the campfire. Shippo's head appeared from underneath her sleeping bag, blinking sleepily. He spied Rin clambering to her feet to get her porridge and wrinkled his nose, his green eyes flashing. Though he didn't really like the gloppy stuff, he sure wasn't going to let the girl eat it all. With a flick of his puffy read tail, he scampered over to where Sango was scooping porridge into bowls. Inuyasha jumped out of the tree with an undignified whoop. Even Jaken tottered toward the food with a minimal amount of grumbling.

"Won't you join us, Sesshomaru-sama?" Kagome asked quietly as she climbed to her feet.

"I do not eat human food," he replied, turning away from the rambunctious sounds of breakfast being served and eaten.

She sighed heavily. He hadn't eaten or slept since he had joined their group, which was beginning to worry her. Sure, Inuyasha didn't sleep much, but he was always eating. If the demon lord didn't swallow his pride and take care of his body, he would soon find that it wouldn't work like it should. She supposed that she'd have to let him figure it out for himself, but her heart ached to see anyone suffer, even Sesshomaru. "Are you sure?"

He nodded once and walked over to Ah-Un. After a cursory glance over the dragon's wounds, he sneaked a glance at the girl out of the corner of his eyes. Why she would care about whether he ate or not mystified him. He did not consider himself their ally; their current arrangement was by necessity only and when things returned to normal, they would become enemies once again. But she tended to him as if he were a part of their group, one of her friends.

His ears twitched as her voice rose in frustration; Inuyasha was once again upsetting her with idle insults. Recognizing the tone, he knew that she would soon holler out the hated word and humiliate him. This would not do.

His lips curled back in a snarl as he picked up several smooth stones and lobbed one at his brother, eyes glowing with satisfaction when he yelped in pain.

"Ow! Whaddya do that for?" Inuyasha whirled toward his half-brother, rubbing the lump on his head.

"You are provoking the miko. I suggest that you stop."

"Or you'll what?" Inuyasha growled, eyes beginning to bleed red.

Sesshomaru fought against the urge to growl back and answer the challenge with his claws. No wonder his brother was such a violent idiot; his blood was wild. With enormous effort, he kept his heart rate steady and his face expressionless, the only signs of his struggle visible in his pinned ears and clenched fists.

"As much as I hate to say it, he's right, Inuyasha. You've been picking on Kagome for the last two days. Give it a rest, already," Sango wagged the serving spoon at him, one hand planted on her hip.

"Why are you taking his side?" he demanded of the taijiya, awkwardly trying to cross his arms over his chest before he remembered that he only had the one.

"I'm not taking anyone's side, I'm just telling you to lay off. You, too!" she sent a speaking glare to the monk, whose hand had crept uncomfortably close to her rear.

He gave her an innocent look and took a dish from the pile next to her. "My dear Sango, I was merely-"

"Save it."

Inuyasha huffed and plopped down next to Shippo, snatching the kit's bowl and downing the contents. Shippo yowled loudly and ran to Kagome. She cuddled him, and then got him a new bowl of porridge, promising him a piece of candy after breakfast. The little kit dried his tears and finished his breakfast in her lap.

'What has gotten into Inuyasha?' she wondered. He had always been gruff with the kit, but lately he was aggressive and downright mean! He was as bad as when Kouga came around. Was this some kind of male dog thing? She didn't know, but by kami, she was tired of it. As Shippo unwrapped the lollipop she had produced from her backpack, she scooted him off her lap and approached Sesshomaru as he tended to his dragon.

"Uh, Sesshomaru-sama? Thanks for sticking up for me." She scuffed the toe of her shoe in the dirt, her hands clasped behind her back.

"This Sesshomaru does not require gratitude from a human. I simply did not wish you to say _that_ again."

Kagome blushed. Yes, she had been about to say it; Inuyasha made her so mad sometimes! "Well, thanks anyway. Here, let me do that." She knelt next to him, loosening the bandage on the dragon's side, careful to not pull on his scales, and applied ointment to the deep gash in his side. Ah-Un relaxed under her nimble fingers, whuffling when she replaced the bandage and gave him a tender pat. "I think he's well enough to travel."

"Indeed."

"Yep! You'll be just fine, won't you?" she directed this last comment to the head that nudged her arm gently. She grinned and stroked his scaly nose.

"What are they eating?" Sesshomaru asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Kagome followed his gaze to Rin, Shippo, and the lollipop that Rin was pulling out of her mouth and handing back to Shippo. She jumped to her feet and hurried over to them. "Guys, that's not sanitary! Why don't I get you your own lollipop, Rin?"

XxxxxxxxX

Inuyasha stomped at the head of the group, fuming. She had _thanked _him. Thanked his _brother._ That had not been his intention! Why couldn't she just shoot at him like she used to? 'Because she's kind-hearted,' his conscious reminded him. 'The same reason she's put up with you for so long.' The fact was that he didn't like Kagome paying attention to any male except him, and that feeling had increased tenfold since he'd been thrown into this body. Even her contact with Shippo bothered him. He wanted to drag the kit away from her, shake him, and make him understand that Kagome was HIS!

Flinching, Inuyasha imagined the sitting he'd receive if Kagome could hear that thought, but he couldn't deny that his blood sang a song of possession when it came to the girl. And to see her attending to his brother, an alpha male who challenged his authority… well, he'd do anything in his power to see him humiliated, even if it meant irritating Kagome. She'd get over it, like she always did.

His mood blackened as his mind wandered to his agreement with Kikyou, yet another betrayal of the girl in his thoughts. She'd promised to look into reversing the spell and had told him to meet her on the night of the new moon, which was now only five days away. At first he'd been hesitant; that was the night that his demon blood receded, leaving him a mere mortal. But he wasn't a hanyou anymore; his brother would be submitted to that particular torture. That thought lightened his heart and he grinned, cracking his knuckles as he pictured his brother as a weak human.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's quiet voice started him and he glanced down at her. She smiled tentatively.

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked gruffly, secretly pleased that she'd joined him. Walking close to him, she had to hurry to keep up with his long strides and he slowed his pace in deference to her.

"I thought you might want some company. You don't mind, do you?"

"Keh."

"It's just that we haven't been getting along very well lately and, well, you've been acting strangely and I thought we could talk about it."

"I ain't been acting strange. Something's wrong with your brains." Her face fell as soon as the words were out of his mouth and he looked away, mildly ashamed for upsetting her. When he sensed her begin to pull away, he scrambled to smooth things over. Damn girls and their need to _talk_ about everything.

"I'm all… outta sorts. Everything's changed." He huffed, knowing he wasn't making a lot of sense but unable to describe it any better.

Kagome nodded as if she understood. "It's the demon blood, right?" At his nod, she gave him an intensely questioning look. "Do you like it? Being a full demon, I mean?"

"That's a stupid question: of course I like it. I just wish I weren't in that bastard's body," Inuyasha snapped. It was true for the most part: he like the heightened senses, increased strength, and the heady rush of power through his veins. However, he didn't like the foreign instincts with which he didn't know what to do. As a hanyou, his human blood had tempered some of the more animalistic urges.

Kagome was scowling again; she hated being called stupid, even if it was indirectly. Crossing her arms over her chest, she thought of the few tender moments she had had with him and how long it had been since they'd shared one. Which led her mind to the awkwardness at hand: Naraku was dead; the jewel was powerless; once they had returned Inuyasha and Sesshomaru to their proper forms, what then? How could she ever know his feelings if he wouldn't talk to her?

XxxxxxxxX

The sounds of merriment and laughter filtered through the walls of rough wooden hut, reminding the companions of their recent victory, though no one felt like celebrating. Firelight caressed their faces, etching deep lines in Kaede's skin and throwing into sharp relief the cloudiness of her remaining eye. The humans sat around the fire, Shippo curled in Kagome's lap. Inuyasha sat with his back against the wall and his legs crossed, staring wistfully at Tetsusaiga. Normally, the sword would lean against his shoulder but he couldn't touch it; he'd already tried. Sesshomaru stood apart from the group, calmly at ease and feigning disinterest in the conversation but in truth, he listened carefully to ever word said.

"Are you sure?" Kagome asked doubtfully, staring at the empty jewel in her hand. "It looks pretty harmless to me."

"Aye, the fact that it still remains on this earth is proof. The Shikon no Tama is merely dormant and still could pose a threat if brought back to life," Kaede admonished her.

"But Kikyou said that by wishing on it, the jewel would be purified."

"My sister believed that a selfless and pure wish would purify it. Not a careless mistake," she cast a narrow glance at Inuyasha, who snorted and looked away.

"Can it, ya old bag. I don't need you scolding me, too," he grouched back.

"Inuyasha," Kagome protested, twisting around and placing a small hand on his arm. He sulked but quieted. "Kaede, what should we do?"

"I know not, my child, other than to keep it safe. It will not attract demons like before, but if it falls into the wrong hands…" Kagome's eyes widened as the miko trailed off and she hid the jewel in her blouse.

"Could it be used to reverse this travesty?" Sesshomaru spoke from the shadows of the doorway for the first time.

All heads turned toward him and Kaede frowned. "Ye mean wish yourselves back, milord? I suppose, but I doubt that the jewel would grant a second wish from the same person. Ye would have to learn to use the power of the jewel without wishing, and that is a dangerous path indeed."

Sesshomaru crossed his arms over his chest; cold eyes glowing and silver ears flicking in irritation. "Do you dare insinuate that this Sesshomaru is not up to the task?"

Kaede refused to be intimidated, "Milord, I do nothing but warn ye that the jewel's power can be insidious and evil, even when the user has the best of intentions."

"We hear your warning, Lady Kaede, and will take heed. We will use the jewel only as a last resort," Miroku stated solemnly.

"Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves?" Sango asked. "We don't even know how to bring the jewel back to its full power!"

Raising her voice slightly, Kaede moved the subject away from the jewel. "Ye would do well to find the Yama-dera monastery in the highest crags of the northern mountains. The monks there have spent their lives delving the mystery of the soul."

Miroku nodded, "I have considered that place, but wanted to get your opinion first, Lady Kaede, before mentioning it to the group. They do not take kindly to demons, but we may be able to convince them to help us."

"I think it is your best chance to undo this magic."

Silence descended on the hut as each was absorbed into his or her own thoughts. Kagome pressed a hand to her chest over the cold lump of the tama and gazed sadly at Inuyasha, tracing the magenta stripes on his cheek with her eyes. She felt partially responsible for his predicament… if only she hadn't handed him the jewel when she had. There was no reason for him to have had it at that time and she _knew_ he could be careless. She should have given to him right before she left for her own time.

She sighed heavily, remembering their earlier argument about the well. Kagome had wanted to test it to see if had closed. Inuyasha had flat out refused to let her try.

"No fucking way! What if you can't get back?" he'd almost yelled in her face.

"But my family-"

"Can wait! We need you here to fix this!"

"You had no problem letting me go home a week ago," she snapped, then immediately regretted her words. He stared at her, expression clouding with hurt. Finally, he'd turned away, looking off into the distance.

"Keh. You're not going, and that's final."

Kagome hadn't had the heart to argue; who knew that Sesshomaru could have puppy-dog eyes? Maybe it was the hanyou inside that had brought them out. Regardless, he'd been distant with her since and could have given his brother a run for his money in cold stares.

Breaking the silence with a sharp clap of his hands, Miroku stood. "We are missing our own victory celebration. Come, my dear Sango, have a drink with me," he tugged on the taijiya's hand.

"I don't know…" she blushed but allowed him to lead her out of the hut.

Gently nudging Shippo awake, Kagome transferred the kit to her shoulder and got to her feet, dusting off her short pleated skirt and heading toward the door.

"Where do you think you're going, wench?" Inuyasha eyed her narrowly.

"To join the party?" she paused with her hand on the reed mat that served as a door. "You know, the one they're throwing in our honor?"

His glower intensified but he got off the floor, following her to the doorway. "Just don't get any funny ideas about going through the well."


	3. The Request

A/N: It's official – FFnet does not allow review responses posted in chapters. Personally, I think that sucks, but apparently, no one asked me. So, I will be responding to questions using their new system. Or, feel free to email me – the address is on my profile.

Thanks to all for reading and reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 3 – The Request

Kagome eyed the bottle in her hand… or was it two bottles? She couldn't be certain; the thing kept blurring and doubling in an almost alarming manner. She _did _know that it wasn't typical behavior for a bottle of sake. Did Miroku and Sango know that they left her with possessed wine? Where were they, anyway?

She lifted it to her lips and took another long drink, smiling as warmth filled her gut and then abandoning the empty bottle as she tried to stand. It didn't _taste_ possessed; in fact, the more she drank the better it tasted. She'd never really liked sake before, but this stuff was pretty darn good!

The sounds of drums floated up to her on the night air, reminding her of why she was alone on a hill drinking sake in the first place. She had been standing on the fringes of the party when a village boy had swept her into a dance. Reluctant at first, she'd found herself laughing as she stumbled through the moves, learning quickly the intricate steps then exchanging partners with the girl to her right. The women had formed an inner ring, the men encircling them. The circles wove in and out of each other, and then shifted so that everyone had a new dance partner. It was the most fun Kagome had had in a long time until she was unceremoniously yanked out of the arms of a burly young man and against the hard chest of a demon.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" his eyes had blazed down at her, bleeding red as he pulled her away from the revelry.

Already beating hard from her exertion, Kagome's heart had pounded against her chest. "Inuyasha, I was only dancing!"

He'd spun her around, snarling as he'd… sniffed her? His silver hair had brushed against her cheek as he'd scented her skin, his nose dangerously close to her neck. Her eyes had fluttered closed as his breath had tickled her ear, sending tingles spreading through her body. Heat had radiated off of his skin, bathing her face in warmth as his eyelashes danced across her temple.

"Oi, wench, what's wrong with you?" Kagome was snapped out of her daydream as a hand steadied her under her elbow. "Where are Miroku and Sango?" He sniffed at her, "You been drinking?"

"Uhh… they left…" Kagome was having difficulty keeping her balance, especially with Inuyasha so near. Her face exploded into a blush as she staggered against his side. Had he almost kissed her back at the village? The question pounded in her head to the rhythm of her heart.

"Figures. I'll take you back to the village," he glanced down at the top of her dark head, wondering why she was so agitated. Feeling his eyes on her, she let her head fall back, meeting his sunset gaze.

"Inuyasha," she started, wanting to ask him if he'd meant to kiss her when Miroku and Sango had found them. The issue was rapidly becoming an obsession to her, fueled by four years of unrequited love and too much sake.

The smell of her sweat, the high flush of her face was driving him mad, even worse than earlier this evening, when Miroku and Sango had walked in on them. He'd fled, afraid and embarrassed of what he'd been about to do. His instincts had screamed at him to show that impudent village whelp that this female belonged to him and it had taken all of his self-control to not bury his teeth in her neck where his claim could easily be seen and smelled.

Her lips parted slightly as she caught her breath and he tightened his grip on her arm, flaring his nostrils as he inhaled her chamomile scent, tainted with alcohol. The stars reflected in her luminous eyes and he was trapped, just as surely as if he were bound with chains. He could only stand still as she wrapped her arm around his neck, pulling his head to her and pressing her lips against his. He growled against her mouth, tasting sake on her breath. Her body molded against him and he caught her around the waist, pressing her to him as he grazed fangs over her bottom lip, teasing it to part further. She complied with a moan, opening her mouth to allow his exploring tongue, her body wracked with new sensations and a deep, untouchable ache. Thoughts scattered to the wind as his lips moved against her with bruising force.

Nibbling down her jaw to the soft spot on her neck where her blood pounded against his lips, he suckled the tender skin, feeling her shudder against him. His fangs extended, pressing against the flesh he had captured in his mouth. The first drop of her blood sent a jolt through his system and he reared back, despite the urge to drive his teeth further into his neck. She staggered backward, falling heavily now that her support had been removed, her eyes brimming with tears and hurt.

"Wh-what's wrong?" she asked, her voice quavering.

He crouched in front of her, extending his hand toward her but afraid to touch her. He'd made her bleed; how could he have hurt her like that? He'd made it his life's task to protect her but he'd started to bite her! "Kagome, I-," he whispered as his fingertips brushed her neck, capturing the drop of blood that oozed from the tiny puncture.

Her eyes wove to the smear of scarlet, then to his lips, also stained red. "You bit me?" she was having trouble focusing on him, the moon on his forehead blurring and doubling. Sudden confusion hit her and she shook her head frantically. Moon? Had she been kissing Sesshomaru? No, those were Inuyasha's eyes…

He caught her flailing hands against his chest, breathing a sigh of relief when recognition flooded her face. Leaning forward, he kissed her lightly, chastely, and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, wench, let's put you to bed." He blushed furiously, realizing what he'd just said, but Kagome didn't seem to notice. She was leaning against his side, letting him hold her up, eyes drifting closed as she stumbled forward.

XxxxxxxxX

Twilight washed the sky with violet and indigo, the last rays of the setting sun glowing on the underside of distant clouds and setting them ablaze. The dark, glassy surface of a small lake was occasionally broken by fish as they leapt out of the water, snapping at low-flying insects. Crickets tuned their discordant fiddles in the lush grasses; oblivious to the still figure perched on the slight rise overlooking the water.

Sitting as far away from the cheerful group as he could possibly get without prompting a search party, Sesshomaru silently listed the indignities that had been performed on his person in last the week, growling softly in his throat as each replayed in his mind. So far, he had fought along side his brother, been turned into a hanyou, touched by a human, subdued by a human… several times… now, he _was_ a human.

Fortunately for him, his brother's hanyou blood was strong (he had to admit this now because to do otherwise would be to say that this Sesshomaru was weak, and that Would Not Do), so his somewhat dulled senses were not _too_ much of an inconvenience. However, as a human, his head felt like it was wrapped with cotton. His nose was stopped, his eyes blurred and darkened, his limbs felt like dead weights… now he knew why his brother had squalled as an infant when his human nights had come over him. This was miserable.

His few consolations were that the group had left that filthy human village this morning, his brother had wandered off, and Jaken had returned to the Western Lands to keep things in order while he was gone. Mainly, his purpose was to squelch any rumors he might hear about his lord's predicament. The fewer people who saw him like this, the better.

"Sesshomaru-sama? Are you okay?" Kagome called softly, watching his black hair flutter in the light of the stars.

The demon lord turned hanyou turned human kept his back to her. "Leave me be, human."

"I just thought you might be hungry…" she walked up to his back, then tucked her skirt under her legs and sat next to him.

The smell of salty broth hit his weak human nose and his stomach growled in response. Damn this human body and its needs. Without his permission, his eyes slid toward her, locking on the strange container full of noodles.

"Come on, you have to eat something. Just try it?" she coaxed him sweetly, nudging one of his hands with the cup. His stomach rumbled again and she gave him a knowing smile.

Sesshomaru weighed his options carefully. He could either continue to refuse the repelling human food or eat it and assuage the gnawing pit in his stomach. Neither option was very good, but the longer he stared at the noodles the more savory they smelled. Kagome dug a big bite out of the cup with a pair of chopsticks and waggled it at him as if he were a pup. That was the last straw. Snatching the cup and sticks out of her hand, he crammed the wad of noodles into his mouth. He hardly tasted the first bite; he'd swallowed it so fast. By the third bite, he'd decided that it wasn't bad for human food and it felt wonderful in his stomach. It wasn't until he was slurping down the dregs, having abandoned the chopstick as a hindrance to getting the food in his mouth, that he realized the girl was still sitting next to him and watching him intently. He lowered the cup and stared back.

"Umm…are you still hungry? I've got potato chips and Pocky in my bag…"

He nodded curtly and she grinned, hopping to her feet and rushing off. He didn't know what either of those two things was, but if they were anything like those noodles, then he would eat them. She returned moments later and unceremoniously plopped down next to him, her cheeks flushed with exertion.

"The last bag of garlic flavored potato chips, and these are Shippo's favorite!" she exclaimed triumphantly, ripping into a brightly decorated bag. She thrust it into his hands, and then opened a small red box. "Oh, and I brought you some soda." Placing the tip of a transparent container under her shirt, she twisted the top, extending it to him when she had finished. He sniffed at it, surprised when tiny drops of moisture shot out of the top and onto his nose.

"Watch," she said, and then tipped the thing to her lips, baring the creamy expanse of her throat for a long moment. Sesshomaru's gaze was locked onto her pulse point and he cursed the new moon that had taken away his ability to hear her heart beat, smell her blood through her skin. Did she even know what she was doing? That such a simple gesture was an invitation to one of his kind? A tiny puncture marred the perfect skin of her throat and his eyes widened. Had his brother tried to scent-mark her? The stupid fool probably hadn't realized what he was doing; he obviously hadn't succeeded. A tiny spark of satisfaction lit in the pit of his stomach at the thought, but he was too distracted to analyze it.

Her face swam into focus and he realized he'd been staring, and at a human, no less. He took the proffered bottle and set it next to him, directing his gaze toward the dark lake at the bottom of the hill on which he sat.

"Uh, Sesshomaru-sama?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You've got something on your…" she tapped the side of her mouth with a long finger. Cocking his head, he wondered what on earth she was doing. "Here, let me." She gently brushed his cheek with her fingers, then grinned and stood up. With a small wave, she walked back to the small campfire and her friends.

Too surprised to move, he sat frozen in place, the ghost of her fingers still tickling his cheek. A human girl had touched the face of Sesshomaru, Lord of the West, and he… had let her.

XxxxxxxxX

Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder, nervously. 'You're not doing anything wrong,' he told himself. Then why did he feel so guilty? 'It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that you just lied to Kagome about where you were going,' he thought. But there was no way he was going to tell her that he was meeting Kikyou, not after what they'd share the night before. He could still taste her blood on her lips and as much as it terrified him, he wanted more.

"Inuyasha," Kikyou voice drifted to him as she materialized, wrapped in her soul collectors.

Thoughts of Kagome fled as the undead miko glimmered in the twilight, the pale, limpid shine of her demon familiars casting her beauty in an ethereal glow. Untouched by the breeze, her straight black hair hung down her back in a neat tail, contrasting against the snowy white of her haori and crimson of her hakama. Even dressed in miko's clothes, Kagome had never possessed this grace or elegance.

"Inuyasha," she repeated, tired of his staring. He shook himself and walked forward, wrapping his arm around her back and crushing her to him. She adjusted in his embrace to avoid the spikes of his armor, stroking his back with her fingertips. "I have found a way to return you to your body and give you what you really want," she spoke quietly against the smooth silk of his haori. His arm tensed and his breath washed over her face as he pulled away to look down at her questioningly.

She nodded, a soft smile curving her lips. "But you must bring me the jewel."

His eyes widened as his mouth dropped open. "I don't know, Kikyou…"

"Do you want to stay like that forever?" she asked harshly, her dark eyes narrowing at his hesitation, her palms pressing against his chest.

"No, but Kaede mentioned that the Yama-dera monastery might help, and she said that the jewel was too dangerous to use."

"Of course she would," she scoffed. "No one understands the true power of the jewel except for myself and Naraku, and even he did not use it to its fullest extent. And as for the monastery… the monks are not know for their tolerance of youkai. They would sooner shoot you than help you."

"Kagome still has the jewel. Maybe you should explain this to her and ask her for it?" Inuyasha suggested hopefully, almost whining when Kikyou pulled away from him.

"Inuyasha, you know how she begrudges me your love. Do you really think she would give it to me? But she would give it to you…"

He stared at her pleadingly, knowing the truth in his heart. Yes, Kagome resented the undead priestess. Naraku's infant had used that very resentment against her, years ago. He'd tried to twist it into hatred for Kikyou, though Kagome's pure heart had resisted. It had been the day that he'd found out for sure: _I'm in love with Inuyasha,_ she'd screamed, as he'd burst through the wall to rescue her. He'd never acknowledged that desperate cry but had held it close to his heart nonetheless.

The problem was, he loved _both_ women. Just as he'd told Kagome long ago, he would never be able to forget Kikyou or the love they had shared – still shared.

Kikyou watched the emotions flit across his crested face. If events occurred according to her plan, that face would be answer to her tired heart's desires. Inuyasha would be upset, of course, but he loved her, first and foremost. He would forgive her, just as he had forgiven her previous betrayals.

He sighed heavily, dropping his chin to his chest. If he'd had his hanyou ears, they would have drooped morosely. "There's no other way?"

Cool fingertips brushed the stripes on his cheeks, raising the fine hairs on his neck. Curling his fingers around her hand, he pressed her palm to his cheek. "No, this is the only way."

XxxxxxxxX

Kagome stirred restlessly in her sleep as Inuyasha glided into the ring of firelight cast by the dieing campfire. He froze mid-step, his amber gaze locked on her face as it contorted in the throws of some dreadful dream. Shippo whimpered and snuggled closer under her chin, instinctively trying to offer what comfort he could, even in his sleep. The scent of her fear spiked just before she bolted awake, blinking up at him with wide, glazed eyes.

"Inuyasha, you're here," she said breathlessly, as if he would evaporate with the dregs of her dream.

"Keh. Where else would I be, wench?" he asked gruffly, pushing away the little voice that reminded him _exactly _where he had been.

She shook her head, casting away the shadows and doubts instilled by her recurring nightmare. He had promised to protect her, right? She twined her fingers together, letting her frustration strain the joints of each slender digit. "Of course, I'm sorry."

Inuyasha's eyes darkened for a moment; it was not she who should be apologizing. He covered the knot of her fingers with a striped hand, pulling her wrists apart and saving her fingers from distress. "Go back to sleep," he mumbled.

He grunted in surprise as her wrist was wrenched out of his grasp and she flung herself against his chest, pressing her face against the silk of his white haori. He settled his arm around her back, holding her close as he inhaled the fragrance of her hair. Kagome was so precious to him; somehow, being with Kikyou made him forget that, even if just a little.

The jewel poked into his chest uncomfortably and he sighed, knowing that he had to get it from her somehow. He could ask her for it, but she'd want to know why he wanted it, especially after Kaede's warnings. He'd have to lie about bringing it to Kikyou or explain that he'd been meeting Kikyou in secret, neither of which appealed to him. He could take it, but it would shatter her trust in him. Did Kikyou realize what she was asking of him?

This is the only way, Kikyou had said. Maybe… maybe he could wait a while, see if the monks would help them first. If that plan failed, then he would have to get the jewel and Kagome would have to know why, but she would understand. 

She relaxed against him, sighing softly as she dozed off. Gently, he settled her back into her sleeping bag, pulling the top under her chin to ward of the night's chill. Two gleaming eyes peered at him over her shoulder, accusation and disappointment shining in their green depths. He scowled at the kit, silently threatening to haul him away from her, and the eyes disappeared into the sleeping bag. Irritated, Inuyasha considered going after him, but that would wake Kagome and lead to questions he didn't want to answer and from the stare the fox child had given him, Inuyasha was fairly sure that he wouldn't have any qualms tattling on him.

With a growl, he sat with his back against the tree closest to Kagome's sleeping form. Glancing over the rest of the campsite, he realized that there was an extra human in their midst leaning against a tree next to Rin… no, it was his brother in human form. How could he have forgotten? Inuyasha grinned, 'I hope that bastard is enjoying himself.'

As if sensing his scrutiny, Sesshomaru's brown eyes slid open and stared back with disgust. Inuyasha snarled, showing a bit of fang, half hoping that he'd challenge him and he could end his miserable life. Of course, he'd be killing his own body, Inuyasha remembered belatedly, which increased his irritation tenfold. Stupid fucking wish.

Sesshomaru continued to stare at him, recrimination weighting his gaze to the point that Inuyasha became uncomfortable. 'Now what's his problem? Is everyone against me tonight?' Inuyasha shifted, refusing to break eye contact first but wishing he'd go the hell away.


	4. Broken Chain

A/N: It's amazing what one can accomplish when one doesn't have to go to work! Questions about pairings, whether or not they'll get their bodies back… will be answered in the story… you'll just have to keep reading! Ha Ha!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 4 – Broken Chain

"Watch this!" Shippo exclaimed, flourishing a small green leaf then turning into a gigantic pink sphere with googly eyes and spindly limbs.

Rin squealed in delight and clapped her hands. "Shippo is amazing!" The balloon blushed a darker pink and popped back into an embarrassed but pleased fox child.

"Show her the horse," Kagome suggested, earning her a gratified grin from the kit. Fishing a small wooden horse out of his vest as he walked side by side with Rin, he proudly displayed it to her, then transformed into a larger replica of it. He reared back on his haunches, kicking his stubby forelegs in the air and whinnying before he took off down the path. Rin laughed happily and raced after him, waving her tiny hands in the air.

"This is stupid," Inuyasha grouched to Kagome.

"It is not! How long has it been since either of them have had a chance to play with someone their own age?" Kagome admonished him.

"Keh. Shippo ain't her age and he's just showin' off."

Kagome rolled her eyes and fell silent, not willing to continue the argument. Just another day before they reached the base of the mountains, then maybe two more day's climb to the monastery and they could return Inuyasha to his more pleasant hanyou self. She still had no idea why he was so relentlessly cranky, but if this is how he would behave as a full demon, then maybe it was just as well that he didn't get that wish.

Shippo and Rin came tearing back down the path, Shippo still in his horse form and Rin bouncing on his back and laughing. "Faster, Shippo, faster!" The poor horse was already panting heavily, but he obliged her, arching his neck and plowing forward with all the might his four stubby legs could muster.

"Shippo, watch out!" Kagome called to him, dodging out of the way of his frantic charge. The people behind her were not so lucky: Sango and Miroku walked side-by-side, Sango smiling behind her hand and the monk almost whispering in her ear. Sango noticed the danger first, grabbing the Miroku's arm to pull him out of harm's way and crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Goaded on by the girl on his back who shrieked for more speed as she clung to his mane and squeezed her eyes shut, Shippo skidded around a sandaled foot, kicking up a small dust cloud under his chubby hooves. Ah-Un's nostrils flared as he reared back, pawing the air with his clawed feet and tossing the reins that were wrapped around Sesshomaru hand. Yanking on the reins to control the dragon, his hanyou strength was simply not enough for the task and the dragon did not really recognize him as his master. Ah-Un broke free and lunged at the children, intent on saving his young mistress from the strange horse-beast.

"OSUWARI!" Kagome screamed and Sesshomaru slammed into the ground, narrowly missing being clobbered by the dragon as he launched over his head but receiving a heavy foot in the small of his back. Ah-Un snatched up Rin in his teeth by the back of her kimono and Shippo unceremoniously popped back into his fox form, sliding to a halt mere inches from a very angry pair of golden eyes.

All movement stopped for a moment, except for Rin who swung from Ah-Un's jaws.

"Hentai!" Sango reached around and slapped the monk, blushing furiously when the hand on her bottom only squeezed again.

"Lady Sango, you fell on _me_," Miroku explained as the taijiya scrambled off of him. "And you weren't complaining the other-" Hiraikotsu slammed into his skull, cutting off the remark as the monk fell backward, unconscious.

"Oh, Shippo," Kagome hurried toward the kitsune and inu-hanyou, face-to-face in the dirt. Ah-Un gently lowered Rin to the ground and she quickly followed. Both girls kneeled in the dirt to survey the damage.

Sesshomaru couldn't help the growl that leaked between his lips. Besides the fact that he had been 'sat', his back was on fire, throbbing fingers of pain radiating from where the dragon had stepped on him and into his limbs. He wanted to throttle the little kit, who quaked in fear, but his arms weren't obeying him. Only his fingers would clench in the dirt, digging up rivulets of soil in his excruciating frustration.

A short, bark erupted in front of him and rumbled into a long, low laugh. Kagome twisted on her knees to glare at Inuyasha, her brown eyes snapping in indignation. "Inuyasha, it's not funny!"

"It's fucking poetic justice if you ask me!" Inuyasha gasped out between laughs.

"Inuyasha no baka, osu-"

"Miko," Sesshomaru warned darkly and with a great effort, wrapped his claws around her ankle.

Kagome's attention snapped back to the demon lord, who was still on the ground even though the subduing spell had worn off. "Sesshomaru-sama, are you hurt?"

Sesshomaru wanted to deny it, especially in the face of his brother who was shamelessly laughing at him, but just stopping the human from subduing him had been a Herculean effort. He settled for growling, which ended in a moan as the miko's hands brushed the small of his back, a pitiful sound even in _his_ ears.

"My lord, Rin is sorry!" The little girl's eyes shimmered with tears as she balled her fists in front of her mouth.

Patting her on the back, Kagome shushed her. "It's not your fault Rin, don't cry. Why don't you help Sango get some water boiling? I think it's time for a break, anyway."

XxxxxxxxX

"Oh, come on. It's nothing I haven't seen before," Kagome fussed with his outer haori, pushing it off of his shoulders and down around his hips, then tugging the inner haori loose as well. Sesshomaru laid stomach-down on her unrolled sleeping bag, snarling at each touch and generally being a very bad sport.

Thankfully, his brother had stopped laughing when Kagome had asked the monk to help her carry Sesshomaru off the path and to a secluded copse, where she'd pulled out her medical kit and sleeping bag. Inuyasha had been furious and had demanded to 'help', but she had chased him off with several barbed comments. For being a human, the girl had gumption.

Sesshomaru hissed as she placed a cold, damp cloth on the enormous bruise on his back. An ugly shade of purple, it was rapidly spreading across his back and down his sides. From his inability to move, Kagome was afraid that the dragon may have done damage to his spine, but the flesh was so swollen that she couldn't see anything. She let the cloth stay until it had warmed, and then spoke softly to the demon, "Now, Sesshomaru-sama, this is going to hurt a bit."

Walking her fingers down the ridge of his spine, she prodded ever so gently to make sure the bones were still aligned. As she approached the bruise, her touches became more insistent, less tender, trying to feel his spine through the inflamed flesh. His body jerked as her fingers danced over the connections and she harrumphed to herself.

"Well," she said as she rinsed the rag in the cold spring water next to her knees and laid it over the swelling on his back, "nothing's out of place and you can still feel everything, but you've got some major muscles knots and probably some tearing." Sesshomaru wondered vaguely how she knew this and was about to ask when she continued. "Once the swelling has gone down, I'll try to work out some of those knots, but in the meantime, we'll keep cold compresses on it. Drink this," she directed, poking a small tube into his mouth.

He didn't have the wherewithal to fight and sucked the warm liquid into his mouth, surprised that it didn't taste all that bad. Sweet, really, like her soda had been, but with a strange, bitter aftertaste. Sighing as the tension and pain eased out of his body, he let his eyes drift closed on the fog that was enveloping his brain.

A new pain dragged him out of the pleasant haze that he'd been wandering through, grinding and stretching the muscles of his back through his skin. He groaned heavily, blinking and squinting against the harsh light of a fire and an acrid, medicinal scent.

"Why d'ya have to touch him like that?" Inuyasha griped from past the fire, obviously irritated about something.

Kagome's soft voice sounded overhead, strained slightly as if she were performing some difficult task. "I've got to work out these muscle knots; he'll heal faster." Of all the schooling she'd done, her correspondence first aid and physical therapy classes were, by far, the most useful. After high school graduation, she signed up for the class on a whim and found that not only did she have a natural aptitude for it, she got a lot of studying done just cleaning up her friends after battles.

"Let him suffer," he grumbled back.

Something soft tickled Sesshomaru's nose and he brushed it away with his hand. At Kagome's happy gasp, he glanced groggily over his shoulder, somewhat startled to know that she was sitting on his butt.

"My lord, we were so worried! You slept for hours…" Rin sat next to him, Shippo dozing in her lap. His red tail flicked in his sleep, swishing across Sesshomaru's nose and making his eyes water.

"That's because you guys made the tea so strong," Kagome pointed out as she kneaded another muscle knot with her thumbs. Seeing Rin's eyes widen, Kagome quickly finished, "and that's okay because he needed the rest to get better."

Sesshomaru felt a warm, sticky substance hit his back, followed by Kagome's deft fingers, rubbing the stuff in and pushing into his sore muscles. Painful, yes, but pleasurable in an aching sort of way. He exhaled deeply as she slid a strong thumb up his spine, his breath returning in a rush with a heady lungful of Kagome's scent.

'Not bad, for a human, not bad at all,' he thought as he drifted through the sea of scents and sounds, the rhythm of her hands on his back the only thing grounding him to his body. To what he had been referring, her scent or her touch, even he didn't know. His eyelids drooped heavily before he could decide, sending him sinking back into oblivion.

XxxxxxxxX

Kagome tensed, fiddling with her bow and arrow as the wind bent the sunburnt grasses and blew her hair into her face. With an impatient hand, she brushed it out of her eyes, scanning for the jewel shards and evil hanyou that she knew lurked out of view.

Stalks of grass quivered as something passes through it, slithering quietly, stealthily toward her. She knew it was coming; she'd been here before, but all she could do was stand still, staring at an empty field. Sighing in relief when she spotted the glowing shards, she let her arrow fly, calling out to her friends to join the battle.

One of Naraku's fleshy tentacles whacked it away, exploding with pulpy splash of sludge and releasing noxious miasma. As if on cue, more tentacles twisted toward her, moving impossibly fast and twining around her ankles and wrists. Numb fingers dropped her bow as she was yanked off balance. She fell back; the wind knocked out of her and stars shooting across the backs of her eyelids. Bid of rock and sharp blades of grass bit into her skin as she was dragged over the rough ground.

"Inuyasha!" she had no breath left in her body, so she screamed in her mind. The tentacles bunched and stretched, slipping further up her legs as the tips caressed her skin like a lover's fingers.

She thrashed wildly, finally finding her voice. "Inuyasha!" she sobbed, arching her back to search for the hanyou. He was running into the woods, oblivious to her predicament. Maybe he didn't care?

Suckers attached to the flesh of her inner thigh, stinging the sensitive skin, and she shrieked, straining against the bonds on her limbs. Spiny black legs uncurled from the hub of tentacles, reaching high into the sky before slamming into the dirt. She could hear laughter, dark, mocking, and quite close.

"Kagome, Kagome!" Shippo patted her cheeks with his tiny paws, frantic to wake her. He sat back on her chest in relief when her eyes flew open, wide and glazed with panic. "You were dreaming again!"

"Oh, Shippo!" she gasped, holding onto the kit as if he were her anchor to sanity. "It was so real." Instinctively, her eyes searched for her protector. "Where's Inuyasha?"

"Uhhh… he's uhhh…" Shippo stammered, not knowing what to tell her. His sharp youkai nose had picked up Kikyou's scent hours ago and had hoped that the idiot hanyou would at least _try_ to hide his liaison, but he didn't want to lie to his adopted mother.

"I understand," she bit out, kicking out of her sleeping bag and making a grab for her backpack.

"Where are you going?" Shippo asked, worry shining in his emerald eyes.

"I…I need a bath," Kagome said, shuddering at the feeling of those horrid tentacles touching her so intimately. She felt dirty, had to wash the memory from her skin. She hurried away from camp, not waiting for Shippo's hesitant reply.

She stumbled blindly up the path, vision blurred with unshed tears. She'd driven him away and into Kikyou's arms. How could she have been so stupid? Sesshomaru was healing quickly from his back injury; she probably could have stopped the massage therapy yesterday, but the book said to continue until even after the pain was gone. It wasn't as if she liked it or something… well… it was kinda nice to have a patient that didn't gripe and complain at her all the time. Since that time Sesshomaru had woken up under the effects of the painkiller, it was almost as if he _liked_ it. In fact, it sounded like he'd been purring the other night…

'I'm so stupid,' Kagome's breath hitched in her chest as hot tears spilled over her cheeks. 'He's jealous. Why didn't I realize that before?' Her hands balled into fists, elbows straightening at her sides. 'He could have just said something.' She scowled at the ground, yelling her thoughts into the forest, "I'm not a mind reader!"

"There is no need to shout, human."

Kagome's head snapped up, her tears drying on her skin as she stared at the hanyou before her: bare-chested, white hair darkened to a deep silver by the water that saturated it. With two strong hands, he squeezed the water out of his long mane, and then flung it over his shoulder.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked, stumbling over her words as her eyes roved his body.

Sesshomaru blinked slowly. "You're ointment has left me smelling… pungent."

Kagome blushed furiously and looked anywhere but him. She hadn't realized that she'd reached the spring; lucky for her that he had finished bathing. This was silly! She'd seen that chest hundreds of times! Sneaking a peak at him under her lashes, she wondered what it was about him that was so different. Was it his posture, his regal bearing, the cool confidence that shown from his yellow eyes? She flushed darker, repeating a mantra she'd heard on television, "Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts." Her brain refused to cooperate; instead, it showed her what could be under the hakama, though strangely enough, it included two magenta stripes at each hip. For kami's sake, she was nearly twenty and still a virgin. She had friends who had done everything under the sun (and relished describing it in every lurid detail) and her experience was limited to high school biology! The image in her mind stretched luxuriously, lean, hard muscles flexing under pale skin. 'Think _unsexy_ thoughts!'

Sesshomaru watched her reaction with veiled amusement. She had seen him with out his haori many times, had touched him like no other human had touched him, but now she blushes? He didn't know if it was the cursed human blood in his veins, the memory of her hands on his skin, the scent of her desire that curled through the air, or maybe a combination of all that prompted him to play with his brother's human.

Stalking slowly forward, he caught her gaze and held it, resisting the urge to smirk as she froze like a doe confronted by a wolf. She was an autumn leaf trembling on its stalk, as if his breath would break her free from the earth to tumble away in the wind. 'Does she look at Inuyasha this way? _Is _she seeing Inuyasha? How could he have not taken her yet?' he mussed, stopping less than an arm's length from her.

The scent of stale tears hit him a moment before he saw the silvery tracks on her cheeks and he cursed the odiferous medicine that had handicapped his nose. He eased his stance, releasing her from her trance. Blinking rapidly, she came back to herself with a quick shake of her head.

"Miko, why are you here?"

"Why am I-" her eyes widened, shining briefly with horror, the memory of those tentacles branding her skin, the desperation and panic of being alone and left to her fate by her beloved sliding cold needles through her heart. Without thought, she collapsed against his chest, the sudden need for comfort overwhelming her discernment of where that comfort should come. All she knew was that she was scared and he was there.

This was not what he'd intended with his little game. Not even Rin dared to be so informal with his person. And now he had tears scalding his chest as a slip of a mortal girl sobbed silently against him. Her arms were curling into herself like a dying spider; her shaking not so tantalizing as it was pathetic. He should push her away, remind her of her place, but he didn't, the same compassion that had ferreted its way past his barriers with the coming of Rin was now urging him to place an arm loosely around her back. He obliged reluctantly, knowing that it should be a different chest she cried against, or at least a different soul. That wasn't possible, was it, his brother had gone to visit the undead creature and this poor thing probably knew.

She pulled away abruptly, wiping at her face, and he let his arm fall to his side, his impassive mask carefully in place. "I'm sorry, Sesshomaru-sama, I didn't mean to… Please forgive me."

He nodded once, but the motion was lost on the girl who stared at the ground, abashed and ashamed by her behavior. Where was the tough markswoman who stood up to demons and curses and kami-knew-what? Crying her eyes out over a bad dream on a man who could care less, that's where. She didn't look up until his youki faded into the forest and she was sure she was alone.

'Suck it up, Kagome, you big baby,' she scolded herself, quickly stripping and sinking into the warm water. A faint purple glow lit the water between her breasts, almost faint enough to be a trick played by the moonlight, and she rubbed her eyes, trying to clear the blur from her vision. Even as she watched, the glow was fading and she pulled the source from the water by its silver chain. The jewel: not quite as empty as it should be, a dying ember of sickly purple light vanishing from its core as she watched.

She dropped the thing back into the water, her stomach sinking and twisting with dread. 'This can't be good,' she thought as she hoisted herself out of the water. As much as she wanted a nice, long soak, she had to get back to the others and tell them about this.

She was completely dressed and wrapping her hair in a fluffy yellow towel when occurred to her that Inuyasha would be able to smell Sesshomaru all over her. Not just her hands; her face, her chest, her hair, her back…

"Oh, kami-sama!" Kagome groaned and tore open her backpack, pulling out the floral body wash her mother had given her. There was nothing to be done about her clothes, so she scrubbed at her face and arms frenetically, knowing that the jealous hanyou would assume the worst and _not_ understand. Her heart leapt two feet from her body when Inuyasha spoke above her.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, suspicion lighting his eyes when she jumped and leaned away from him.

"N-nothing," she stammered, hoping against hope that she'd washed away all traces of Sesshomaru's scent. It was a fool's errand; the full demon had a keener nose than the hanyou ever did. Sure enough, he sniffed at her, eyes widening as he rushed forward. Kagome fell backward, cowering a little in his shadow. This Inuyasha frightened her; so much more than he had when she'd first met him, more than when his brother had inhabited the body before her.

"You smell like someone else…" he sniffed her face, ran fingers through her black hair and sniffed the strands. The smell was faint and familiar but he couldn't place it. He knew he was wrong before he said it, but asked it any way, "Kouga?"

"No!"

"Then who?" He was beginning to see red, his full youkai blood screaming at him that someone had touched what was his.

"Inuyasha, I…"

"I always wondered what happened between you two," he goaded, trying to trick it out of her since she obviously didn't want to say.

"Nothing ever happened between Kouga and I!"

The scent of the other male still clung to her skin and he inhaled deeply, letting his youkai instincts unravel the mystery for him. He knew this scent, had smelled it combined with her scent before, just not to this degree… The answer hit in the chest and he bared his fangs and growled, leaning into her so that their faces were inches apart. "But you'll throw yourself at my brother?"

"It wasn't like that!"

"I can fucking smell what it was like!"

Kagome just stared at him, her mouth open. Tears spilled over her cheeks unchecked and her breath hitched in her throat. "I'm s-so s-sorry," she gasped.

The salt of her tears cut through the anger and stung the wound in his heart that the scent had left. "But why my brother, Kagome? Why?" Sesshomaru's voice pleaded with her, the moon crest dangerously close.

"Because I was scared. And he comforted me. You weren't there…" Golden eyes glittered inches from her face, but not the right eyes. She almost swayed as vertigo hit her. Was this the man she loved? Who was she even talking to? "I'm so confused," she admitted, dropping her head and hiding her eyes with her bangs.

Inuyasha's clawed hand caught her chin, forcing her to face him. She squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking between her sooty lashes and mingling with the spring water. Slowly, his hand slipped down her throat, leaving tiny red lines where his claws grazed against her skin. Shaking, she held still under his touch and he could sense her tumultuous emotions: remorse, self-loathing, uncertainty. Her heart thundered in his ears, her scent an aphrodisiac that calmed yet inflamed his youkai. Leaning forward, he inhaled deeply, his lips almost touching the blue vein that pulsed beneath her skin. His tongue snaked out, tasting the flesh that enticed him.

Moaning quietly, Kagome was wracked with a violent shiver, forcing the tips of his claws to pierce her skin. The aroma of her blood snapped Inuyasha out of the trance he'd fallen into, his eyes falling to the dormant jewel that hung around her neck.

Didn't she know that she belonged to him? Had she let Sesshomaru touch her because he looked him? That must be it… he had no choice, he had to take the jewel so that Kikyou could return him to his body. The monks were still two days away, thanks to his hated brother's injury, and were an doubtful ally. There was no time to loose.

With a flick of his wrist, he grasped the jewel and snapped it's fine silver chain. Kagome gasped and reared back, her hand coming up to cover what was no longer there.

Inuyasha stood, silver hair sweeping over her with a whisper. "He won't protect you," he said quietly, the ice in his voice sending a tremor through her spine. He turned his back and walked into the woods without a backward glance.

"Neither will you," she whispered after him, rubbing her throat where the chain had bit into her skin. An echo stirred in her body, a faint crack that mimicked breaking ice or the links of a chain being sundered. Just a small fracture that starred her heart then spidered over the surface, it shattered the tender muscle as surely as her arrow had splintered the jewel. Kagome's hand clutched her chest as the strength was leached from her bones, turning them to numb jelly. Wheezing and gasping, Kagome fell on her shoulder on the bank of the spring, not noticing that her hand and the side of her face had fallen in the water. Her throat constricted with the force of tears that threatened to flood her but only backed up behind her eyes.

_He left you_, the trees sighed as the wind danced through their branches. _He chose her_, an owl hooted as it glided overhead. _Gone, gone, gone_, the water lamented as it lapped against rocks, her cheek, tangling her hair.

'You knew he would choose her, and yet you stayed,' she reminded herself, her inner voice hollow and mocking. 'You gave him your heart knowing that his had already been claimed. In the end, he got what he wanted: the jewel and Kikyou. Fool.'

So much suffering for such a small bauble… and Kagome knew what it was to suffer.


	5. Returning a Favor

Chapter 5 – Returning a Favor

"Kagome!"

"Kagome, where are you?"

"Kago-_ME_!"

"Damn it Shippo, when did she leave?" Sango asked, frustration lacing her voice and making it harsher than she'd intended.

Shippo clung to Rin, sobbing into her chest. "Sh-she went f-for a bath in the m-m-middle of the _ni_-ight." Rin hugged the little kit tighter, her own eyes unnaturally moist and her chin dimpled and quivering. She cast Sesshomaru a watery glance and he walked to stand next to her, not touching but close enough to lend her his support.

"Surely she can't still be there?" Miroku wondered aloud, his eyes straining to see through the thick forest in the pre-dawn gloom. "She's probably with Inuyasha."

"She was at the spring when last I saw her," Sesshomaru stated quietly.

"That was hours ago! It's not like her to simply disappear, even with Inuyasha!" Sango snapped. "I'm checking it out." She stomped over to the pile of weapons, pulling Hiraikotsu from underneath two swords… wait a sec…

"Shit," she swore vehemently, slinging the enormous boomerang onto her back with more force than necessary.

Miroku's head snapped around, startled to hear such language from her. "Lady Sango?"

"Tokijin and Tenseiga are gone."

Sesshomaru hastened to her side, scanning the ground for his missing blades. Tetsusaiga and Sango's short sword lay side-by-side, but there others were nowhere to be seen or felt. "Inuyasha is the only one who could have taken Tokijin and not be overwhelmed by its demonic aura." Crouching down, he raised Tetsusaiga from the ground, holding it almost gingerly.

Sango sighed heavily; this did not bode well for her friends. "Take it, Sesshomaru-sama. We may need it."

The group tore up the path, Shippo and Rin riding Kirara so that they could keep up. Shippo was still sniffling miserably into Rin's kimono. The little girl felt so badly for the kit; she had her Sesshomaru-sama, but Kagome-sama was Shippo's guardian and now she was missing. Though no one had said so, Rin knew that they feared for the woman's life. It saddened Rin; she like the kind woman who treated her like she was one of her own, instead of like the village women who had shoed her away from their children and homes. In the time they'd been traveling together, a deep bond had formed between the kit and child, more than just kinship of two former orphans. Cooing softly and rocking the kitsune, Rin silently promised him that he wouldn't be left alone like she had been.

"She is here," Sesshomaru broke through the hushed sounds of heavy breathing, "but her scent is tainted."

Shippo wailed mournfully and sprang out of Rin's arms. Rin slid off the firecat's back and raced after him, her short legs pumping to keep up with him. Sango and Miroku followed closely behind.

Sesshomaru scented the air again, as if another breath would change the unmistakable odor of his poison corroding flesh. A shrill scream split the air, forcing his body into motion. He could never ignore _her_ scream. Already knowing what he'd find, he glided down the path toward the hysterical group of humans, his heart strangely heavy. She was brave and honorable, for a human female, and did not deserve the painful death that awaited her.

"Shippo, give her room to breathe," Sango choked around the lump in her throat as she pulled Kagome's still form from the water. At first, she'd been afraid that the girl had drowned and washed up on the bank, but she still breathed shallowly; only her cheek and hand been in the water. Rolling her onto her back, Sango discovered the real reason for her friend's pallor and chilled skin: five long, black lines ran down her throat to her chest, where they stopped at small punctures. The flesh surrounding the lines and punctures was red and swollen, oozing a thick, dark green substance that seemed to hiss and bubble. Tiny red branches spread from her wounds, crawling up her face and over her chest. Sango knew youkai poison when she saw it.

Miroku lowered his head solemnly in prayer, two fingers held in front of his face. He too, had seen the effects of youkai poison, and it had never ended prettily.

Pulling a rag out of Kagome's bulging yellow backpack, Sango dipped the cloth in the water and dabbed at the wound, hissing and jerking her hand away as the poison ate at the cloth. Kagome did not stir.

"How could this happen?" the taijiya's broken question rasped in her throat as she struggled against tears.

"It is my poison, but it does not seem deliberate," Sesshomaru stated indifferently, though the banked fire in his eyes and gentle hand he placed on Rin's shoulder betrayed him. The child leaned into him, having gathered up the hysterical kitsune and rocking him slowly.

Truly, it was a marvel that the miko had lasted this long; most humans would have died within an hour, even with superficial scratches such as these. That she lived was a testament to the power that lay within her. Again, he cursed his brother's blindness and stupidity to treat such a one with carelessness, though he was beginning to understand that she was not only the source of his brother's strength, but the binding that held together their motley group.

"But that's impossible! Inuyasha would never hurt Kagome," Sango shook her head frantically, as if denying the obvious would somehow make it not true.

Sesshomaru raised a black eyebrow into silver bangs, "Do you imply that I don't know the scent of my own poison, human?"

"Even you aren't infallible, you pompous-"

Miroku broke in quickly, "Lady Sango, help me find Kagome's medicine box. There must be something in there that can counter-act the poison."

Sesshomaru fixed him with a disdainful eye. "She will die. No human can survive my poison." Rin jerked slightly under his hand and he almost flinched, his callous words ringing in his ears. Or maybe it was the sound of the kitsune's caterwauling.

"Sango, the jewel…" Miroku leaned down and brushed his fingertips over a thin welt that traced around Kagome's neck but did not seem to be infected, the imprint of tiny links still visible in the skin.

Cursing under her breath, Sango slipped a finger under the girl's collar, hoping to find the chain on which she'd strung the Shikon no Tama. "He took he jewel? I don't understand." Sango stared up at Miroku with misty eyes, her faced lined with worry.

"Neither do I, Lady Sango, but I think we must assume that Inuyasha is not in his right mind. We must find help for her, and quickly."

XxxxxxxxX

Running with smooth, long strides down the rocky path that branched from the main road and _away_ from the Yama-dera monastery, Sesshomaru wondered which god he had angered to suffer such indignity. To think that this Sesshomaru could be reduced to a packhorse for a human… well, it was unthinkable. His lip twisted without his permission as the girl on his back moaned softly in her delirium and he reflexively softened his knees so that his steps would not jar her.

All of the humans rode a youkai: Miroku and Shippo on Kirara, Rin and Sango on Ah-Un. They had insisted that he carry Kagome, citing a multitude of ridiculous reasons, but it had been Rin's puffy red eyes, of course, that had sealed the deal. However, it wasn't as unpleasant as he'd first imagined; his back had fully healed and she was as light as she was small. In fact, her warm form pressed against his back, deceivingly hard muscles tensing in the throws of infection, soft curves molding to his body, felt unnervingly comfortable.

"I see lights up ahead," Miroku called out, pointing forward with his staff. Kirara roared and churned the air with her fiery paws, gaining speed. Following obediently, Ah-Un picked up his pace, leaving Sesshomaru in the proverbial dust. Launching into a flying leap, Sesshomaru scowled inwardly. A race against time, yes, but in the end, it would all be for nothing.

Miroku landed first, rousing the last of the late-sleepers with his shouts for the village miko, Ah-Un close behind him. Rapidly approaching middle age, the miko strode toward the ruckus as Sesshomaru trotted toward the group, steadying Kagome with strong arms under her thighs.

"Who are you and why do you bring youkai into our village?" she asked sternly, bow and arrows held at the ready. Black hair shot with gray and pulled back into a long tail, she stood with her back straight, spiritual power snapping in her dark eyes.

"We beg your forgiveness, Lady, but our friend has been poisoned and does not have much time. We seek aid and your healing arts," Miroku bowed low. Terse whispers punctuated with angry shouts rippled through the quickly growing crowd.

"Please! These youkai are friends and won't hurt you! Will you help us?" Sango extended her hands in entreaty, pleading with the hard-eyed miko.

Frowning for several long moments, she finally relented. "Show me your friend."

Sesshomaru stepped forward; shifting the girl from his back to his arms so that the deadly spread of the toxin was easily seen. The miko gasped and recoiled reflexively, eyes straying to Sesshomaru's dog-ears to Ah-Un and the kitsune cradled in the arms of Rin, to Kirara's cat form. She'd heard of an odd group of companions who traveled the land collecting jewel shards and destroying evil youkai. One member of the group was rumored to be a powerful miko, she recalled, and cautiously approached the sick girl. Reaching out with her aura, she probed the girl and confirmed her suspicions.

"You, monk, take the girl and follow me," she snapped, "though there isn't much that can be done." Sesshomaru transferred the girl to Miroku's arms and watched as the small group tailed the miko into her hut. Shippo scampered after them, leaping onto Sango's shoulder just before she disappeared behind the rice mat covering the entrance.

Rin slid off of Ah-Un's back, sniffling loudly. "Sesshomaru-sama, please don't let Kagome-sama die. Rin has Sesshomaru-sama but Shippo would have no one."

"Why do you care, Rin?" he asked, genuinely curious.

The girl dropped her head, pondering the questing while twisting her fingers into a knot, a habit she'd picked up from the miko dying in yonder hut. After a long moment, she answered, "Because Shippo is Rin's friend… and Kagome-sama was kind to Rin." Her hands stilled and she whispered softly to herself, though Sesshomaru's ears were still able to hear it: "She was kind to me."

Sesshomaru stared down at his young charge, seeing in her soft brown eyes the shadow of her parents' deaths. Why was she with him? He had not been kind when they met, he injured and immobile, she a mute urchin trying to nurse him to health with mushrooms and river trout. How many faceless humans had he killed over the centuries, never giving a second thought to their petty lives; such considerations were beneath him. Yet, the wants and well being of one little human girl could move him.

It was Rin who had gotten him into this; if he'd killed the dragon, as he should have, his brother's foolish wish would not have been made. He would have to refuse the girl this request. He steeled himself for her disappointment, readying an explanation for why the little miko was beyond help.

"I won't let her die, Rin," came out instead. He blinked, opening his mouth as if to retract the words, but there was no unsaying them. The sudden light that gleamed from Rin's upturned face, the shine of hope and joy in her eyes, the sparkle of her teeth bared in a brilliant grin made his heart lurch. Had he been immune to that smile as himself? No, he decided, but it was the human blood that prompted these physical reactions. Would he ever be able to look at her again in the same cold light when returned to his own body? He had his doubts and realized with a start that he didn't _want_ to.

Her smile… it was too fleeting a thing to take for granted; would be dust in a short span of years. Kagome's smile was just as bright, reflecting in her eyes and glowing from her soul. He'd never before met a human who loved so freely or accepted human, hanyou, and youkai on equal terms. She had crawled under his skin when he'd been at his most vulnerable, he mused, but couldn't bring himself to mind.

Settling a hand on dark head of his ward, he nodded once and headed toward the hut and the hushed, tense voices.

Through the gap between the woven door covering and the doorframe, Kagome was visible lying on crude mat and covered with an old kimono. Her skin was graying, deep shadows smudged around her eyes and under he cheekbones, her raven hair limp, dull, and damp with sweat. Black fingers of poisoned blood were creeping over her cheeks, wicked vines rooting and burrowing into the life that fought so valiantly against their grasp. Her heart fluttered weakly against her ribcage, too fast and irregular. He could almost feel the soft patter of her heartbeat against his hand like the broken wings of a bird…

He'd been young, but not too young to know that might was right and life was cruel, even for royalty. His mother was dead, murdered in a fit of jealousy by her consort, who had promptly been disemboweled by his grieving father. Ignored and forgotten, he had retreated into himself, preferring to spend time alone in the garden than amongst the fury and despair of the court, or, worse yet, the pitying looks of the servants.

Wrapped in his despondency, he hadn't noticed the sharp tang of blood until it was almost upon him, falling from the sky and landing in his upturned hand. A torn, broken bundle of feathers, it shuddered and twitched, its wings tickling the skin of his palm in its macabre dance with death. He'd watched it struggle against twisted wings, its tiny beak opening wide to gasp in each breath, beady black eyes glassy with pain, and he'd known that he could easily end its suffering, simply by closing his hand. Instead, he'd let death run its course, forced himself to stared impassively as the thrashing grew less in earnest and the pauses where it lay still grew longer until finally it just… died.

As image of the dead bird superimposed itself on Kagome, a cold, sharp blade began to twist in his stomach, a feeling he hardly remembered and didn't dare name. Miko or not, her human frailty was getting the better of her and she would die just as painfully as the bird, just as meaninglessly as his mother. He didn't want that to happen.

There was a slim chance she could be saved, but only if his half-brother had inherited the poison antidote from their father. Inuyasha was not a poison bearing youkai, but his claws and blood did have magical properties. It was not inconceivable. What _was_ unbelievable was that he'd consider attempting this with a female that did not belong to him and a human, no less.

Pushing aside the mat that covered the entrance, Sesshomaru stepped into the crude little structure, suppressing the distaste he felt for his surroundings. "My, how the mighty have fallen,' he thought to himself, his narrowed eyes scanning over the single room, rough wooden floor, and rice straw pallet that served as the miko's bed.

The miko scowled up at him, speaking quietly but sternly, "Demon, you were not given permission to enter."

"This Sesshomaru does not need your permission, human." Only his eyes moved, sliding over to capture her in twin pools of cold flame. She blanched but held her ground, though her next comment was cut off my Miroku, trying to mollify both demon lord and miko.

"Sesshomaru-sama, we are a guest in this village and I'm sure that Lady Akina did not intend insult."

The monk was right; they _were_ guests, which meant that he could not kill the insolent human outright. However, if ever they were to meet _outside_ the village, he would show her just how little he needed her permission with the business end of Tetsusaiga.

Sango shivered when she felt the flare of his demonic aura, saw his ears twitch and his fingers crawl to the hilt of his sword. She knew that stance; Inuyasha got twitchy like that whenever he was contemplating injury on someone. Clearing her throat nervously, she broke the mounting tension. "Was there something you wanted, Sesshomaru-sama?"

His body jerked and she took the full brunt of his gaze. 'Almost like being hit with my own weapon,' she mused, maintaining eye contact only by grace of long years of training and battle.

"I am taking the miko," he stated, the fire in his molten gold eyes abruptly banked. "Not you, human," he snapped at the Akina's outraged gasp.

"You're not taking her anywhere! She needs medical attention." Sango shot to her feet.

"Which is exactly what she will receive; the only thing that may possibly spare her life and even that is not a sure thing."

Sango gave him a narrow, suspicious look. "You said that no human could survive your poison."

He stifled a sigh; what the human did not realize, and probably had no way of knowing, was that this kind of 'medical attention' was usually only shared between mates but he was not inclined to go into details. "There is a slight possibility that she can be saved, but it requires privacy."

"What does that mean?"

"If you waste time arguing, then her death will be on your head."

"What is it to you? You don't care if she dies!"

"The life of a mortal does not concern this Sesshomaru. I am simply returning a favor." Without further ado, he lifted the girl into his arms, kimono and all, and strode out of the hut. He was airborne moments later, his eyes searching for a suitable place.

XxxxxxxxX

"What ails you, Inuyasha?" Kikyou asked quietly, sensing the tension in his body as she leaned against his chest, his arm stiff around her shoulders.

"Nothing," he lied quickly, though he couldn't get the image of Kagome with Sesshomaru out of his mind. What had he done to her? Why had she let him? His imagination played out several scenarios of the two in each other's arms, each more ridiculous than the last, but they tormented the beast that clawed at his insides and chewed on his heart. It was so much worse than when she'd defended Kouga for the first time; that she'd seek comfort from his _brother_, the man he despised almost as much as Naraku, was a slap in the face.

'How is what you're doing any different than what she did?' he conscience nagged at him, its insidious voice momentarily overriding that of his jealousy.

'It's totally different!'

'_How?_'

'It's… it's Kikyou,' he argued silently, tightening his arm around the undead miko and resting his chin on the top of her head. He ignored the unconvinced grunt of his conscience, wishing it would shut up and leave him alone.

"I should be getting back to the others," he said finally, pulling away from her.

Kikyou frowned, warily taking a step away form him, her hand wrapping around the Shikon no Tama hanging from her neck on its silver chain. "Are you so eager to return to my reincarnation?"

"No! I just…" want to keep an eye on my brother, make sure he keeps his filthy hands off of Kagome. Hell if was going to say that to Kikyou. "…I've been gone awhile. I need to tell them why I took it." He gestured to the jewel that Kikyou still grasped as if it were a lifeline.

She cocked her head, her eyes narrowing as a calculating expression claimed her cold features. "She gave it to you willingly without knowing why?" she asked, knowing by his uncomfortable squirm that it wasn't the case. She really couldn't have planned this any better; the hanyou had sealed his fate with his own actions. "Inuyasha, do you think they will welcome you after you stole the jewel and come back empty-handed?"

"Keh. Of course they will-"

"You are youkai, hated and distrusted by humans. Those you call friends will easily become your enemies, simply because you are not like them. They will never trust you like they trust each other."

"Kagome trusts me!"

Was he really this dense or was this show of loyalty a way for him to deny reality? Either way, it was annoying. "And when you tell her to whom you have given the jewel?"

He shook his head, "You underestimate my friends, Kikyou."

He really was that dense. Her next shot was low and dirty, aiming for vital organs. "I see: your promises to me mean less than to you than your promises to her. _I_ mean less, I who died for you." He tried to interrupt, but she cut him with a wave of her hand. "If that is the case, then go." She turned her back on him and had taken two steps away when his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"No, Kikyou, I'm sorry. You were first, you'll always be first." He buried his nose in her hair, blocking from his mind the musty, ever present odor of clay that clung to her.

'Liar', his inner voice spoke up.

'I'm not lying, Kikyou was first.'

'But what about Kagome?'

Inuyasha couldn't answer. _Can't I have them both?_ He'd once asked Miroku. The answer was the same now as it had been then: no, he would have to choose. How could he do that, though? It wasn't even fair to ask it of him. His heart belonged to both in different ways; he knew that a future with Kikyou was limited but she had died for him! He couldn't ignore that! And Kagome lived for him, loved him…

"Inuyasha, will you come with me to restore the jewel?" she asked, knowing that she'd won for now. He may change his mind later, but it would be too late; he would be hers and Kagome would no longer be competition. She moved into him, splaying her fingers against his armored chest.

He nodded slowly, his eyes never straying from her face. She looked so lost, so fragile; he couldn't leave her alone to do such a dangerous task, and when the jewel was returned to full power, she would be a target for any and all youkai in the area. He would protect her once again, the maiden of the jewel, as he had over fifty years ago. Now he was glad that he had taken his brother's swords; he'd done it on a spiteful whim, amazed by how oblivious his human friends had been to his presence. He'd need them.

Kagome would understand. When he came back and explained why he'd taken the jewel and disappeared, she would forgive him.


	6. Indecision

A/N: Thanks for all of your reviews! If you aren't a member, then feel free to email me with questions. My email address is posted on my profile.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is owned by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 6 - Indecision

Perched high in the boughs of an ancient magnolia tree, Sesshomaru adjusted the girl in his lap so that he had easy access to the wounds on her neck. If someone had told him one month ago that he would be attempting to heal a miko of his own poison, he would have wasted no time in slitting his throat with his claws. He could blame it on human blood all he wanted, but it didn't change the fact that he was doing it. He could have chosen not to and borne Rin's tears like a taiyoukai, but instead, here he was, in the tree. As much as he wanted to believe that he was doing this for Rin, or returning a favor, as he'd told the humans, neither excuse was quite accurate. He had become accustomed to the little miko, as he'd grown used to Rin, and found that he'd rather have her around than not.

He shook his head; he may be inured to her, but he certainly didn't want her with him. He was helping her in order to repay the debt of her attentions when he'd been injured and she needed to live in order to return him to his rightful form. That was all.

Now that he was confronted with her terrible wounds, he was at a loss of how to start. He scowled, disliking the feeling that was worming its way into his gut, disheartening and slimy. Pushing it away impatiently, he tightened his hold on the girl who was beginning to tremble slightly. He would have to rely on his instincts to guide him, a part of him that he'd suppressed and ignored for centuries.

Closing his eyes and clearing his mind, he bent over her and inhaled her chamomile scent, tainted by poison and decay. It disgusted him, and he shuddered in revulsion, his hackles rising at the fact that she'd been subjected to this degradation. His tongue was on her neck before the thought had finished, lapping the oozing wounds of the discharge that had collected. Bitter and acrid, he spat it out before cleaning deeper into the cuts, trying to encourage healthy blood to flow and carry what he hoped were the healing properties of his saliva into her body.

Blood began to seep sluggishly to the surface but it was dirty and noxious. The infection had spread too far for an antidote to work through the original wounds, he realized. Pulling his lips off of his teeth, he exposed sharp fangs and pressed them against the swollen, feverish flesh. Her skin broke with a gentle pop under his teeth, relatively clean blood welling into his mouth. He swallowed reflexively, worrying the punctures into tiny tears and liberally bathing it with his raspy tongue.

She whimpered and he took it as a good sign, creating several more small holes next to the long gashes on her neck and licking them until they stopped bleeding. Inuyasha had indeed inherited the poison antidote; already, the swelling was reduced, the flesh not quite so hot to the touch. Kagome was beginning to thrash feebly against him, a sure sign that she was returning to the land of the living. His tongue reached the punctures on her chest, laving them of infection even as the anti-venom destroyed the poison.

It wasn't until after he'd drawn back to examine the progress of her injuries that he'd realized what he'd done and remembered _why_ this form of healing was only practiced among mates. He'd bitten her several times, and though they weren't mating marks, the scent-marks branded her as his.

Once he'd ceased the ministrations of his tongue, she relaxed in his arms, falling into a deep, peaceful slumber. She still burned with fever but the black veins had stayed their ascent, some retreating and others fading altogether. The wounds would scar; she would bear them for the rest of her life as a testament to her very close brush with death, but they were healing cleanly and probably would leave only the faintest of silver lines. They would not be ugly, he decided, perhaps even interesting to look upon. It would please him to spend long moments tracing those scars with the tip of his tongue, eliciting pleasurable sighs from her instead of ragged, hurting moans.

A twig softly snapped below his perch, marking the passing of some small creature. It would have been inaudible to humans, but Sesshomaru's ears swiveled to catch the sound, jarring him out of his disturbingly graphic thoughts. Had he just been considering rutting with a human female?

The branch next to him rustled quietly just before two verdant eyes blinked at him from the magnolia blossoms. He gave the owner of those eyes an bored glance as he shifted the girl so that the kitsune could see her face. Relief burst from the kit in a great, shuddering rush of air and a splatter of tears, but before he could latch onto her, Sesshomaru snatched him up by his tail.

"She will live but she is far from well," he warned the exuberant fox child as he swung from his hand. "Do not jump on her."

"But-"

"This Sesshomaru does not repeat himself."

Shippo went limp, responding to his growl and showing proper respect for an alpha male. "You saved her," he whispered reverently, limpid eyes in swimming in moisture, roving over the nasty cuts in her skin, and then sniffed curiously. "And you marked her with your scent."

"It was necessary, but is not _my_ scent that marks her."

Shaking his head, Shippo sent his body swinging again. "I smell Inuyasha on her, but you, I mean the _real_ you, on her too. And not from the poison."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. Setting Shippo on the branch next to him, he smelled the flesh he had been treating, and just as the kit had said, his scent was strong on her closest to the bites; _his _scent, not the hanyou's. He pulled back, eyes distant as he puzzled over this, his face unconsciously settling into a small frown. Their souls had moved bodies; the powers, voice, scent all stayed with the body that the soul had abandoned. How could it be that his scent was in the wounds?

A mating mark was permanent and connected two youkai's souls and youki, but a scent-mark was a temporary thing, meant only to show claim on a particular female, such as a mistress or concubine, and would fade if not reinforced. He'd always thought that it was a superficial mark, had never noticed anything deep or binding about it. Then again, he'd never bitten a female while in the body of someone else.

He supposed it wasn't such a bad thing, to own this woman. She was unusual for her species and hadn't he condemned his brother's care for her many times? He curled a finger under chin, tilting her head so that that moonlight played across her features, highlighting her cheekbones and caressing her lips. Even sallow and drawn, she seemed to glow with an unearthly light just below her skin. More soothing than threatening, it offered a solace that he didn't know he'd been missing. Innocence, purity and beauty wrapped in a sweet smile that hid a core of power and strength of heart. His brother didn't deserve her loyalty.

"What are you gonna do with her?" Shippo asked quietly, resting a front paw on the curtain of midnight hair that flowed over Sesshomaru's arm. He would follow Kagome to the ends of the earth, but if Sesshomaru took her, what would become of him? Would he let him stay with her?

"Return to Rin and wait for us there," he said, his voice commanding and sure, belying the consternation that the kit's question had induced. What to do with her, indeed? He did not need another mortal companion tailing him on his patrols, requiring sustenance and rest, and the kit would insist on accompanying his guardian. However, she could take over some of Rin's care and Shippo would be a better playmate than Jaken.

She sighed softly in her sleep, snuggling against his warmth and his mind latched onto the feel of her body pressing against his, under his, turning her sighs into cries, her slight movements into writhing. His blood surged as his heart began to race and he froze, disgust with himself warring with the desire to take her, make this fantasy a reality. 'She's human!' he screamed at himself, his fingers tightening on her chin, under her knees. He was suddenly quite aware of how short her skirt was, how easy it would be to plunder her then and there. 'This Sesshomaru would not lower himself to such depravity.'

His inner voice laughed mockingly. 'Wouldn't you?'

Sesshomaru growled and shifted her weight to relieve the pressure on certain disloyal parts of his body. 'Dirty, vile, worthless creature,' he almost grumbled out loud, feeling like a pup who had been caught raiding the sweets pantry and instead of taking responsibility for his actions, decides to blame the pantry for his punishment.

'You don't believe that, else you wouldn't have saved her life.'

True, Sesshomaru conceded. Even Rin wouldn't have been able to convince him to save the life of someone he despised. 'She's my brother's wench,' he argued, but it sounded hollow in his head. When had he ever cared whether or not something belonged to that idiot? Inuyasha had only been allowed to keep Tetsusaiga for so long because he'd discovered the reason his father had given it to him: to prevent his demonic blood from turning him into a mindless killer.

He huffed, giving silent voice to his indecision and frustration. He should have let Ah-Un die; he should have let the girl die. He neither wanted nor needed these complications in his life.

XxxxxxxX

Kagome became aware of her surroundings little by little as the muffling blackness lifted from her mind: the scratchy roughness of fabric underneath her cheek, the warm weight of a small body curled up at her stomach, the pop and crackle of a fire on dry wood, the murmur of soft voices behind her. Miroku and Sango, deep in conversation, discussing an injured friend. How sad, she thought. Their friend had almost died and still wouldn't wake. Life could be so unfair, sometimes. Who was it? She couldn't remember any mutual friends of theirs who had gotten ill recently.

Turning her head to ask, she was hit by a wave of nausea as each muscle and joint screamed in agony. She couldn't help the groan or the tears that slipped between her eyelids to run down her cheeks.

"Kagome?" Shippo was awake instantly, burrowing out of the den made by her body and sleeping roll to stare at her face. "Are you okay?" At Shippo's anxious question, Sango and Miroku snapped to attention and rushed to her side. Sango brushed her forehead, her lips pursing as Kagome groaned again.

"She's still feverish. Kagome, can you hear me?"

Kagome tried to nod and failed miserably, her head throbbing with each beat of her heart, her neck protesting with a fierce twinge. She settled for an "uh huh," as close to words as she could get without having to do anything more than moan.

"Miroku, hand me Lady Akina's potion," Sango said as she slipped an arm under the girl's shoulders and propped her up on her lap. "I'll see if I can get her to drink. Shippo, go find Sesshomaru-sama." More tears leaked out of Kagome's eyes as her body was jostled, each movement sending sharp stabs of pain through her body until she thought she would pass out. Thankfully, it was over soon and she swallowed reflexively as a warm liquid filled her mouth. Even swallowing hurt, but the liquid coated her dry throat and sent a heat through her body that almost made her feel human again.

She dragged her eyes open, blinking against the harsh light of the fire. Sango's face swam into focus, eyes shadowed and lined with sleepless nights, and her own pain was partially forgotten.

"Sango, what's-" Kagome managed before she choked on her tongue, swollen, cottony, and sticking to the roof of her mouth.

"Thank kami you're okay," Sango burst out, dropping her chin against her chest to hide the tears that filled her eyes. Miroku put an arm around her shaking shoulders and gave a watery smile to the groggy girl lying in her lap.

"Where's Inuyasha?" she whispered. His face was glaringly absent and it sent a chill through her, freezing her to the marrow of her bones. Why wasn't he there?

Miroku refused to meet her eyes, suddenly finding something fascinating about the grain of the floorboards. "Do you remember what happened?" he asked after a long moment. She was saved from answering by Shippo and Rin tearing through the entrance and sending the mat flapping into the wall.

"Do not jump on her," Sesshomaru's voice floated through the door just before he did and the two exuberant children skidded to a halt, Shippo windmilling his arms to prevent himself from falling on her legs. Sesshomaru stopped behind the children and stared down at her with an inscrutable expression in his amber eyes.

Kagome's heart skipped a beat before she remembered that the hanyou before her was really Sesshomaru. Then where was Inuyasha? Her eyes searched the darkness behind him, scoured the shadows in the corners of the hut. "Where is he?" she repeated, her throat burning and cracking with the effort.

Brushing bangs from Kagome's forehead, Sango gently shushed her. "We don't know, Kagome. We were hoping you could tell us."

"No…" she whispered, confusion clouding her face as moisture filled her eyes. He was always with her when she was sick or injured. What could have happened that not even Sango or Miroku didn't know? Was he okay?

Sesshomaru watched the girl cry silently, the salt of her tears stinging his nostrils and fanning his rising irritation that she was grieving over he who almost took her life. His stoic, unfeeling mask was beginning to crack and he moved to her side, using the need to check her wounds as an excuse to touch her, knowing that as the male who had scent-marked her, his touch would offer some measure of comfort. He didn't care if she suffered, he told himself sternly; he just wanted her to stop crying. Those tears, they were shredding his carefully maintained control with each silvery trail down her cheek.

Carefully peeling back the bandages that covered her throat and the top of her chest, he was relieved when her tears slowed and her breathing steadied. The five red slashes that marred the pale flesh of her throat were oozing clear fluids but were no longer puffy and veined with poison. His own marks were already closed, no more than pink dots to show his claim. He took a moment to marvel at her ability to heal before pressing fingers to the lips of the cuts to see if they still held traces of poison or infection. Only the clear fluid, mixed with a little clean blood, seeped to the surface. How he wanted to lick it clean, maybe reopen a couple of his own marks, his salivary glands working to produce more of the precious antidote. He would have if he did not have an audience. As it was, the humans had not gotten a good look at the wounds and did not realize what he'd done. He was content to let them remain in blissful ignorance.

Sesshomaru's fingers prodded at her neck, firm but gentle and somehow soothing. He touched an especially sore spot and she bit her lip against crying out, a vivid memory of pain lancing her throat swimming to the surface of her mind, claws poised over her chest, golden eyes frigid with accusation. She'd taken a bath, then tried to scrub… something… off of her skin, she couldn't quite remember what and it nagged at her like hangnail being pulled through a sweater. Inuyasha had found her and had been furious. She shuddered, remembering again how his claws scored her skin, the chain biting into her flesh as he tore the jewel from her neck. "He left me," she whimpered, her hand creeping up to rest where the jewel should have been and brushing against fresh bandaging.

"Did he take it?" Miroku asked quietly. Kagome nodded mutely, squeezing her eyes shut as hot tears scalded her cheeks. After all that they been through together, after all of his promises, he'd abandoned her for something she hadn't even done. Hadn't she?

"Don't cry, Kagome," Shippo pleaded and patted her foot. He was so tired of seeing her cry over that baka. She deserved so much more: a male who wouldn't belittle her or call her names, who wouldn't compare her to anyone else, who wouldn't sneak off to see other women while she slept, who would cherish her instead of hurt her.

"What do you mean, he left you?" Sesshomaru asked quietly, dangerously, pulling the attention of everyone to his burning eyes, but he was staring at Kagome. He'd always assumed that his brother would return to the girl so had not protested when he went off with his body to meet the undead miko. He'd seen no reason to tether the hanyou to himself; he was annoying and obnoxious and if he'd been in his company the entire time, Sesshomaru would surely have been driven to violence. Perhaps he had been mistaken to let him have free rein.

"I mean that he left me," Kagome shivered, her body suddenly cold as if immersed in ice water. His fingers were no longer calming; they hummed with tension and fury and she was suddenly very nervous. "I think…I think that he finally chose Kikyou."

"You don't think he'll try to restore the jewel to reclaim his body, do you?" Sango exclaimed heatedly. "He heard Kaede's warning!"

Miroku sighed heavily, his shoulders drooping slightly as if a great weight had settled on them. "I fear that is exactly what he intends, though if he's given the jewel to Kikyou…"

"You do not trust the priestess," Sesshomaru stated, Miroku's small shake of the head confirming his suspicion. He'd never bothered to learn the full story behind his brother and the undead miko; he knew that he'd fallen in love with her and she'd rewarded him by sealing him to a tree for fifty years at a most inopportune time. She'd been brought back to unlife after this girl had broken the spell and had been at the fringes of the fight against Naraku. The intricacies of their relationship, the deceits and betrayals, he neither knew nor cared. The black rage was back, tainting his thoughts with murder and mayhem, but he pushed it down, saving it for when he caught his worthless brother.

"Inuyasha believes her to be the same woman he loved over fifty years ago, but she was resurrected in hate and anger. It's what drives her, though he refuses to see it. Kagome," Miroku laid a gentle hand on her arm, "why would he do this now, of all times?"

She blinked back more tears; they wouldn't help her, nothing could. "I don't know," she mumbled, turning her head away from the questioning stares of her friends and the piercing eyes of Sesshomaru, trying to hide her lie. She knew now why he'd left; she'd been trying to erase Sesshomaru's scent in her frantic after-bath and had failed, miserably. Pursing her lips she glowered at the wall, twisting her guilt in on itself. After all, wasn't she entitled to comfort once in awhile? She was always taking care of others; she loved to do it, it was part of her nature. But sometimes she needed to be taken care of, too. Was it her fault if Sesshomaru had been there instead of him? 'If I had a dog-demon's nose, whom would I have smelled on you, Inuyasha?'

Sesshomaru nostrils flared as he caught her lie as easily as he smelled her sorrow and anger. He didn't care if she lied to her friends; it was no concern of his. However, she would tell him the truth; explain why his half-brother would have taken such drastic measures against a female he had considered his own and disappeared with a body that didn't belong to him.

"Leave us," he focused his gaze on the monk, who blinked at him in astonishment.

"Sesshomaru-sama, we are grateful for what you have done for Kagome, but-"

"It's okay, Miroku. I'll be alright," Kagome patted his hand reassuringly and smiled up at him with a confidence she didn't feel. Somehow, she knew that Sesshomaru recognized her fib for what it was and deserved to know why his body was now missing.

Sango glanced uneasily between the miko and dog demon, sensing something strange between the two but unable to put her finger on it. Since he'd brought her back, still feverish but well on her way to recovery, he hadn't strayed far from her. Come to think of it, Shippo had spent his time either sleeping with Kagome or with Rin tailing Sesshomaru… She shook herself mentally, 'You're imagining things. Shippo is following _Rin_, not Sesshomaru. And Sesshomaru… he wants answers from Kagome. Kami only knows why he hasn't taken off after Inuyasha.'

Sighing and pushing away her thoughts, Sango pulled the monk to his feet and ushered him and the children to the doorway of the hut. "Just don't tire yourself, Kagome; you have no idea how sick you were. I'll be back in a bit with Lady Akina to check on you."

Kagome nodded, wincing as pain shot through her neck and settled in her head, throbbing behind her eyes. If this is what it felt like to be better, then she must have almost died! It was the only piece of the puzzle that she couldn't quite place, but Sesshomaru answered her question before it formed on her lips.

"Inuyasha poisoned you."

Her eyes widened as the significance of the wounds on her neck hit her, the itching and burning of each scratch suddenly having a meaning more dreadful than she would care to believe. 'Inuyasha did this to me! And Sesshomaru…'

"Miroku said you-"

"We will speak of it later. For now, I want to know why he attacked you."

She lowered her gaze, tracing the rough hem of the fire-rat haori that she knew so well. "He smelled you on me. He thought that… oh, I don't even know what he thought. Baka." Sesshomaru watched as her face settled into an annoyed frown, almost petulant in nature, but her eyes were dark and haunted.

So, the half-breed idiot had gotten jealous and instead of marking her to warn off other males, he'd injured her (inadvertently), stolen the jewel, and run off with the golem. Baka, indeed. However, he doubted that the idiot was gone for good; no matter what he thought his heart wanted, he would eventually come to realize that the undead miko was not a suitable mate. He would be back for the living one.

'Who,' he had to suppress the twitching of his lips, 'is no longer available.' The idea of being burdened with the female was no longer so onerous. After years of longing for the Tetsusaiga, not only did he have the sword, he also had his brother's intended. 'Let him come to take her; I'd like to see him try.' Then he would know what it was to feel jealousy, covetousness, and the futility that came with not being able to fulfill his desires.

Dare he wait for his half-brother to come to his senses and return? He did not want to speculate what the ignoramus could be doing with his body but did not like the possible consequences if he were to go after him and somehow miss him on his return. Then Inuyasha would have the jewel, both priestesses, and his body. Unacceptable.

He huffed, again irritated by his indecision and the odd position in which he found himself. For centuries, the machinations of others had not concerned him; conquest had been his objective and any creature that stood in his way was obliterated. Now he must plan carefully or lose his lands, title, and pride. He had no doubt that he would be successful; he would just have to be cautious, a wholly unfamiliar concept to the arrogant lord. But cautious did not mean hiding in the shadows.

'This Sesshomaru does not hide,' he growled low to himself, suddenly finding chocolate eyes gazing up at him questioningly yet fearlessly. The answer to his dilemma slowly formed in his mind, reflected in black hair and white bandages, hardly more pale than the flesh they covered. Even though wracked with pain, she emanated a deep, ancient power.

The miko was his, now. He could do as he pleased.


	7. Belonging

A/N: Thanks for all of the feedback. I read and love each and every review! And now that I've clawed my way out of the purgatory of unpaid overtime (thanks to Dilbert for naming that limbo land where my time is silently devoured), here's the next installment…

Disclaimer: Inuyasha et al belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 7 - Belonging

A deathly quiet gripped the familiar field; even the wind was momentarily hushed. Kagome's heart constricted, 'Not again…'

She hardly had time to take a breath before tentacles twisted around her ankles and up her calves. She screamed, kicking a leg as she tried to notch an arrow to her bow, but they pulled her off balance. The bow flew out of her hands and into the brown grasses that kowtowed in the rising wind, hissing and whispering their condolences. She hit the ground as the tentacles jerked her forward, the air knocked out of her by the force of the impact. The back of her head hit a rock and the world lurched sickeningly for a moment, the cloudless blue sky turning in on itself then belching a great torrent of inky, starless black.

Kagome could only watch in horror, her limbs immobilized by countless tentacles that twined around her, heavy, putrid air filling her mouth and lungs to that point that breathing was painful and screaming was impossible. Craning her neck, she searched for her friends but not even Inuyasha's red and silver form could be seen. She was alone.

The tentacles slithered around her legs, arms, waist, shredding her school uniform as they sought purchase on her skin and dragged her toward the hulking monstrosity rising out of the grass; it's spiny legs were extensions of the unnatural night that had fallen over the meadow. She struggled to inhale, choking and coughing on noxious fumes until her throat was raw and gray fog crept into the edges of her vision. Twin points of light appeared and bored into her, growing larger as she was pulled toward them, _that laugh_ cutting into her, lacerating her as surely as if it had been a knife.

"What's the matter, miko?" the rich voice taunted as the eyes drew closer. She could feel the heat of them on her bare skin, their path traced by the tentacles on her flesh. An enormous spider's leg fell out of the sky, stopping just short of impaling her heart and resting against her left breast. Coarse hairs grazed against her skin as it pushed away the remains of her blouse, leaving her in nothing but her bra from the waist up. She moaned and turned her head to the side, refusing to let her opponent see the fear in her eyes.

"Where is it?" an edge of annoyance crushed the soft velvet of the voice as the leg pawed at her chest.

"Look at me!" he hissed, and another leg slammed into the ground next to her face, forcing her to turn her head. She clenched her eyes shut; she may not be able to move the rest of her body but hell if she were going to do as it said!

The creature shrieked, reminiscent of a teakettle at boiling point, and her eyes popped open as two yellow suns and a curtain of silver hair obscured her field of vision.

She gasped awake, still struggling against the bonds on her wrists, kicking violently with legs that were suddenly free.

"Subdue her legs!" a new voice spoke above her, melodic and commanding but lacking the viciousness of her dream. A soft weight settled on her feet, hugging them instead of binding them, and she quieted, opening her eyes to pre-dawn dimness in the hut in which she'd been sleeping.

"I'm okay now," she panted, exhausted despite her long sleep. How could she get any rest when she was fighting demons waking _and_ sleeping? 'At least he came to rescue me this time,' she thought as she smiled into the golden eyes above her. His aura pulsed against hers, imparting a calm on her hammering heart, his hands relaxing their hold on her wrists, almost cradling them as if they were reluctant to release her. Small paws rubbed her shins though the kimono, warm and reassuring.

Sleep stole over her quickly as she luxuriated in being wanted and cared for. Dimly, she wondered where the feeling had been for so long before peaceful slumber claimed her.

Sesshomaru watched the girl sleep from his seat against the wall, a pastime he was finding more engrossing than he'd ever believed possible. Thankfully, her nightmare had only woken her kit; the rest of the humans had remained ignorant of her internal struggle and even the brief tussle when she had awoken. He could still see the smile she had given him, befuddled with sleep but stunning, all the more so because it had been just for him. What would he do to see that smile again? The question worried and intrigued him at the same time.

He did not like these dreams she had; they scared her like nothing else. Even now, over an hour after she'd fallen asleep again, the scent of her fear hung thick in the air. He thought it odd that a mere dream could frighten her more than he had when they faced off the first time. For a human, she'd put up a fierce battle against whatever was lurking in her unconscious mind and him in those first few moments of waking. She was regaining her strength and spirit.

He stared at her for another hour, his hanyou ears catching the faint sounds of nocturnal animals retiring and humans stirring in their sleep, preparing to rouse with the coming sun. The scent of dew ready to form wafted through the hut's entrance, sweet and subtle.

His mind was made up. It was time to go.

With a gentle nudge of his foot, Rin blinked awake, yawning hugely and stumbling to her feet but not questioning him. She, in turn, jostled Shippo awake, placing a finger against her lips to signal the need for silence. He nodded, wide-eyed but uncomplaining. He had suspected something like this and was glad that they weren't going to leave him behind. As if he would've _allowed_ himself to be left. Gesturing to Kagome's backpack, he signed to Rin that they should take it with them and between the two of them, got the deceptively heavy bag out the door.

Sesshomaru gathered the sleeping miko into his arms and slipped out of the hut without a whisper, immediately launching into the air so as not to give the humans any clue to his direction. Ah-Un rose into the air behind him with the pups on his back, both holding tightly to a yellow bag.

XxxxxxxxxX

Kagome watched the hanyou snuffling delicately, his nostrils flared wide with an agitated expression puckering the skin between his eyebrows.

"You know," she started helpfully, "Inuyasha just gets down on the ground and sniffs the dirt."

Sesshomaru ignored her, continuing to scent the air as he took several steps in one direction, backtracked, then repeated the process in another. She sighed heavily from her seat on the boulder, drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms around them, working up the courage to ask the stoic dog-demon the question that had been plaguing her since she'd woken in his arms, flying through the air.

The only real reason she'd waited this long was because Shippo was with her and didn't seem the least concerned; happy, in fact. She'd figured the rest of her friends were somewhere behind them. However, they hadn't made an appearance for the rest of the day and she was beginning to get worried.

"Um, Sesshomaru-sama," she began again, but the demon made no indication that he'd heard her. "Where are Sango and Miroku?"

"They were a hindrance. We left them in the village."

"A hindrance to what?" He gave her a bored glance before returning to the task at hand. Kagome harrumphed and glared off into the trees. He was as impossible as his brother. "Then why bring me? I'm weak and useless compared to Kikyou. You should go get her instead."

'Is that what she really believes?' he wondered. It was her arrow that destroyed Naraku, not Kikyou's, her strength that his brother had used to gain power and learn Tetsusaiga's attacks, her spirit around which her pack rallied. "You are not weak, for a human, and this Sesshomaru does not waste time on useless things."

"Take me back to my friends, please, Sesshomaru-sama."

"No."

"But why not?"

He was not comfortable with the question, so he chose not to answer it. He'd indulged her enough, anyway.

Kagome, however, wasn't done. "What are you going to do with me?" Her desperation mounted as the silence stretched out. She had no bows or arrows, she was still too weak to travel on her own, what could she do? Telltale moisture pricked the back of her eyes and she hugged herself tighter, silently scolding herself not to cry.

There were the tears again, but this time, he was the cause, but he couldn't (or wouldn't) answer that question, not out loud. "That is none of your concern."

"What? It very much concerns me!"

"I will not hurt you."

Her scowl deepened, her lower lip protruding in the most fascinating manner. He no longer smelled salt water but he could tell that she didn't believe him and that bothered him. He abandoned his task and walked in front of her, staring down impassively. "I promise that I will not hurt you."

"Yeah, I've had enough of inuyoukai promises."

Her words stung him, the caustic tone of her voice so out of place with her cheery smile and gentle eyes. "Do not mistake me for my brother."

She looked up at him, surprised; she'd hurt him. Her expression softened as she stared into his eyes, feeling almost trapped, immobile and breathless in the pale amber of his gaze. 'Is this how insects feel when they land, unsuspecting, into tree sap? Will someone find me centuries later, a petrified Kagome encased in his eyes?'

"I think I need to lie down," she said huskily, rubbing her arms as if chilled and looking back down at the ground.

He nodded curtly, resuming his search for the scent trail that eluded him but finding himself unable to concentrate. More than once, he felt the miko's eyes on him, her gaze a physical entity, though each time he glanced at her, she appeared to be sleeping, her head propped on her arms. Finally, he gave up and glided back over to the being that invaded his thoughts. She was, indeed, asleep and breathing deeply

XxxxxxxxX

Inuyasha lounged against the wall of the shrine, his eyes resting on the miko meditating before a low alter, the chain on which hung the Jewel of Four Souls twined through her clasped fingers. She had been meditating for two days now, which made four since he'd left his group, they who'd become his family. Strange how he much missed Miroku's lecherous hand, Shippo's whining, and he _really_ missed being sat. It was masochistic, perhaps, but he'd give just about anything to hear Kagome's voice, strident in anger, subduing the stuffing out of him, if only because it meant that she was near.

He didn't understand how could have what he wanted most, Kikyou and the jewel, and yet feel so hollow. The emptiness was consuming him, like blind maggots in a corpse, devouring the guts until they writhed under the skin, giving the dead a false semblance of life until the skin ruptured, spilling forth the hurt, betrayal, sorrow. He thought he'd become numb to this feeling; he'd lived with it so long. It wasn't until he'd met Kagome that he'd felt accepted, at peace, like he had a home. He was lonely and Kikyou could not fill the void, wouldn't even try.

Kikyou's soft voice murmured in prayer, rising and falling in a steady rhythm that lulled the mind; rendering the words themselves meaningless. He loved this woman but no longer wanted or needed her. He looked at her and saw Kagome, smelled her and was repulsed by the earth and clay that made up her body. Each rebellion by his body and mind made him guiltier, for he had promised to protect her, follow her into Hell, if that's what the fates determined. And yet, he had promised Kagome, too, but left her.

The others had better protect her and keep his brother's hands off of her until he could return. He had made a mistake by leaving. He only hoped that he could fix it.

XxxxxxxxX

What was in the bag that she carried everywhere? Sesshomaru was suddenly overwhelmed with curiosity as he recalled the strange food that she fed the group, the odd material they were packaged in, her vast knowledge of healing, and the bizarre and indecent way she dressed. What kind of secrets did this brightly colored bag hold? After casting a quick glance to the two sleeping females curled against Ah-Un, he leaned over, dragging it to him by one of its long straps and fiddled with the clasp. When it didn't open immediately, he simply tore the flimsy piece of material to which it was attached.

"Uh… Sesshomaru-sama," Shippo watched him with wary, concerned eyes from his cocoon in Kagome's arms. "I don't think Kagome would like you going through her stuff. The last time Inuyasha tried it, he got sat into next year."

Sesshomaru ignored him and pulled out the first item his hand hit: a hardbound book. The cover was painted with a picture of a human body without its skin, showing the muscles, bones, and connective tissue beneath. Idly, he flipped through it, irritated that the characters were so outlandishly written that he could barely decipher them and he only understood about half the words. The paintings were grotesque, showing detailing of the human body in intimacy that he had never wanted to know. Was she studying torture methodologies? Couldn't be; she'd referenced this book when she'd been treating his back. He tossed it aside in disgust. She could explain that later.

The next couple of items he recognized as food containers, though slightly different that what she had given him the night he'd turned human.

"Ninja food," Shippo piped up helpfully, having scooted out of his den and was now sitting not too far away, watching Sesshomaru with avid interest. He knew candy would come out of there sooner or later, and if it was _Sesshomaru_ who took it out, then he wouldn't be to blame if he ate it, right?

"Hn." He reached back in and pulled out two smooth bottles that immediately filled the air with their chemical perfume. 'She takes these with her when she bathes,' he noted to himself. The scent was much too strong in these bottles, but on her, the gentle aroma of flowers and herbs was acceptable, though he would have preferred that she use the actual flowers. He made another mental note to discuss it with her.

Shippo was at his side the moment he brought a slick bag out of the depths, hopping from one foot to the other. Sesshomaru gave him a bored stare but handed him the bag, recognizing the 'lollipops' that Rin and Shippo so loved. Gingerly, Shippo took the sack and dug out two of the prized treats.

"One for Rin when she wakes up," Shippo explained as he tucked the second into his vest and zestfully tore into the first.

Sesshomaru nodded. The next item he extracted had him baffled. A small, soft blue box made of rigid paper: no pictures and the bright yellow name painted across the front held no meaning. He tore off the top and upended it, surprised when several paper-wrapped tubes fell into the ground, followed by a folded sheet of paper.

"Oooh, what's this?" Shippo held up one of the tubes and examined it by moonlight. He'd seen the box before, briefly, but never what was inside. She always kept this one hidden at the bottom of her bag and since it didn't smell like candy, he hadn't really cared.

Sliding a claw through the flimsy paper, Sesshomaru revealed two tubes of that marvelous stiff paper, one tube slightly larger than the other and positioned end-on-end. A small string came the top of the smaller tube and he tugged on it, not surprised when it came apart. Now he holding a wad of cotton with one of the tubes spinning slowly on the string, trapped by the cotton. He could see no purpose for such a strange object, and yet she had several of them.

Shippo had unfolded the piece of paper and was now examining it, the lollipop stick hanging loosely from his mouth. Sesshomaru snatched it away and held it up to the wan moonlight. Most of the text was much too small to bother reading. It was the picture that arrested his attention. He turned it over a couple of times to be sure he had it right-side-up, despite the fact the words should indicate it. What was he looking at? It couldn't be…

Kagome's strangled shriek startled him, but not as much as when she tore the paper out of his hands and gathered the white tubes back into the box, her face beet red and her eyes snapping with outrage.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, amused by her gumption and the rise of color in her face. She stood and stared down at him, clutching the box to her chest and almost panting with indignation. Opening her mouth several times, then closing it, his lack of reaction only seemed to infuriate her more.

"How _dare_ you paw through my stuff!"

"How dare _I_?" he said slowly. "What is this 'stuff'?" he dangled the piece of cotton on the rope and had to hide a smirk as she squeaked, her flush deepening, though he hardly believed it was possible. She snatched it away and he let her, enjoying her acute embarrassment.

"It's…it's personal!"

So, his guess had been right, despite the crudeness of diagram. It was intolerable that she would use such things; at least she had the decency to be embarrassed by them. "You are not to use those and will dispose of them immediately."

"Sesshomaru…" she ground out.

He recognized that tone and the lack of honorific had not gone unnoticed. His amusement rapidly faded. "Do not say it," he warned.

"Osuwari!"

He hit the ground hard, despite his already close proximity to it. Digging his claws into the soft earth, he growled through a mouthful of dirt, "Bitch, you will do as you're told."

Kagome gasped in outrage, her hands shaking as she fought against the urge to throw to box at the arrogant demon at her feet. How she wanted to lash out, but pelting him with tampons would not be very satisfying in the long run. "Osuwari! Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?"

Shippo edged away. As much as he wanted to help his adopted mother, she belonged to Sesshomaru and they had to work this out. Oh, he wouldn't let the dog demon hurt her, but his interference right now would not help anyone.

Sesshomaru pulled against the spell that held him to the ground, jerking upright when it finally released him and looming over the furious miko. "You belong to me."

"I do _not_ belong to you or anyone else! Osu-"

He clapped a hand over her mouth, pulling her roughly against him so that she couldn't get away and say _the word_ again. She struggled briefly, dropping the small box in the process. At the sight of its contents scattered in the dirt, she sagged against him in defeat. She couldn't remember a time when she'd been more humiliated, at least, not in the recent past. Inuyasha seeing her naked had always been embarrassing, sure, but she'd also gotten a little thrill out of it, especially when his eyes would lock onto her breasts and his face would shoot up in flame. But this was different; she felt dirty, for some illogical reason. Hell, she wasn't even comfortable buying them at the drug store, always trying to hide them with other items she didn't necessarily need and picking the female cashier, even if her line was the longest and slowest!

'Get a grip, Kagome, you're almost twenty! You're acting like a child!' But it was _Sesshomaru_ who had been pillaging her knapsack, _Sesshomaru_ who had tossed around her tampons. Now he was telling her she couldn't use them, which meant he'd figured out what they were used for, and saying that she _belonged_ to him! She whined softly in the back of her throat, distraught by the weirdness of it all.

Loosening his grip, Sesshomaru rumbled his approval of her perceived submission. Apparently, he would have to explain to her their situation. He shouldn't care whether or not she used the vile little plugs, but he did, so she would not. She had to understand that she was his and that while courage and defiance could be entertaining, outright disobedience was unacceptable.

"No more of that," he warned quietly. She sighed against his hand, her warm breath tickling his palm, and then nodded. She stepped away from him when he released her, her back straight and her hands fisted at her sides, her eyes glittering with countless osuwaris though she bit them back and refused to look at him.

"I'm not a piece of property," she muttered. She hated being treated like an object. First Kouga, with his 'my woman' crap, and without even asking her! And Inuyasha, though he didn't come out and say it, was possessive of her and jealous of attention that she showed other men. Now Sesshomaru? What did she do that prompted demons to try to own her? She really wanted to know so that she could stop doing it!

"I did not say that you were."

Kagome blinked rapidly, confusion knitting her eyebrows. "You just said-"

"Perhaps the word has a different connotation in the human language than it does for youkai," he allowed, irritated that his half-brother had not bothered to explain youkai relationships. Then again, he might not understand them enough to voice them. Possessiveness and protectiveness were instinctual; the meaning behind the actions was not. He almost sighed; he was not used to being questioned and didn't particularly like it, but the at the first hint of salt that tickled his nose, he decided that he would make an exception, this once.

"I suppose you could say… you are a part of my pack; your care is my responsibility; no other male can touch you. I am alpha and you will submit. These make it so until they are gone." He brushed his claws over his bite marks on her neck, pleased that she didn't flinch or jerk away.

"Oh," she couldn't think of anything else to say. Put that way, it didn't sound quite so bad, and hadn't he just said it was temporary? A twinge of disappointed tightened in her chest and she pushed it away impatiently. She didn't want to belong to Sesshomaru indefinitely, what was she thinking? She loved Inuyasha! Though it was nice to not be constantly insulted or harassed and she felt safe with him, more comfortable than she had in a long time.

Was this what Inuyasha had tried to do when he'd almost bitten her? But why had he stopped? 'Because he doesn't want you, silly girl. He wants Kikyou, remember?' she chided herself. 'Right, he wants Kikyou. He's probably bitten her all over, by now. Wait a minute…'

"Why did you-"

"This Sesshomaru has answered enough questions for tonight. Suffice it to say that it was necessary."

"But-"

Kami, but she was an impudent little thing. "Woman, this Sesshomaru does not repeat himself."

"Osuwari," she shot back, but Sesshomaru, determined not to be sat, had his hand back over her mouth just as she finished saying it. To Kagome's credit, she hadn't expected him to try to prevent her. After all, she'd been using that spell for four years and it had become an ingrained habit when she was angry. So, when they both hit the ground, cheek-to-cheek, his weight crushing the breath from her, she was more than surprised.

"Get off," she wheezed, trying to wiggle away, but he was heavy and the rosary had him held fast. He growled, vibrating her body with its intensity and making her squirm harder. "Can't breath!"

Sesshomaru growled louder, sliding his arms to her sides, trapping them so that she couldn't move quite so much. He wanted to remind her that _she_ had done this and that he couldn't move until the spell released him, but he was incapable of speech. Each wriggle was pushing him closer to the edge of where coherent thought ended and instinct began. He had to admit that, of all the sittings she had doled out, this one was almost fun.

Kagome flushed as he moved above her, pressing against things he had no business touching. As his growls escalated and her movements were restricted, she fought harder against him and against herself. His proximity was too intoxicating, sending darting shards of fire through her blood. When she felt his knees straddle her hips, she said the first thing that came to mind, "Osuwari!"

His face hit her chest, a big improvement from the hard ground, but not easy on his already frayed control. The air rushed out of her lungs, leaving her dazed and momentarily stunned. He took the opportunity to capture her wrists and pin them to the ground before she could start writhing again. His movement seemed to wake her and she immediately started flailing her legs. Muscles taut and straining against the subduing spell, he heaved himself up her body and did what any male would do to his fractious female; he sunk his teeth into her neck, reinforcing the scent-mark and his dominance.

She went limp, whining in the back of her throat at the feel of his lips on her skin, his hard muscles bunching and flexing through his clothes. With each passing second her body ached more, centering at her core. She didn't understand it, she didn't want it to stop, but she felt as if she were teetering on a high precipice. On the ledge was loss and betrayal but over the edge…the unknown. It scared her.

As her struggles ceased, his blood receded, leaving him in control. Satisfied that his point had been taken, Sesshomaru pulled his teeth from her neck and pushed himself up with his hands, staring down at her impassively. At least he now had a weapon against the hated subduing spell; simply get close enough to bring her down with him. It was interesting for him and despite the fit she'd thrown, he could tell from her scent that she'd liked it, too. "I said, no more of that."

Blushing, Kagome nodded, looking anywhere but his eyes and was distressed to realize that, more often than not, she ended up staring at his lips. She blushed harder, half-heartedly trying to extricate her wrists from his grasp.

Barely containing a smirk, he followed the path of her eyes, watched as color suffused her face, listened as her heart tap-danced in her chest. She was a bewitching creature, her innocence a web that ensnared him as surely as chains, as insidiously as spider's silk. 'Like your father and brother, you are falling under a mortal's spell,' his inner voice warned. 'No. I will not walk their paths and perish at the hands of human female.'

Blood beaded at his bite mark and he shook himself, lowering his head to seal the small wounds. Her face turned toward his as if drawn on a thread; the tips of their lips touching before either knew what had happened. Frozen in the chastest of kisses, eyes locked in mutual surprise, they lay still for a long moment. With the gentlest pressure, Sesshomaru sealed the kiss and then released her lips, tilting her chin to the side so that he could tend to her neck. Just once, his tongue rasped over her throat and her eyes fluttered closed, then it and his warm, heavy weight were gone. No longer held to the ground, she scrambled to her feet and shoved the rest of her belongings in her book bag, her attention fixed on the ground. Retreating to her bedroll next to Ah-Un and Rin, she curled up with her back to the tai-youkai on the other side of the campsite.

'Did he just kiss me?' Kagome brushed her lips with her fingertips, the gossamer caress of his lips still lingering despite the brevity. 'No, you twit, you kissed him.' She gasped, squeezing her eyes shut against the truth. 'I didn't mean to! What kind of a girl am I? One little rejection and I kiss anything that moves?'

'It wasn't just one rejection, though, was it? It was the final slap in the face after years of emotional blows. Maybe-' Kagome shut out the nagging little voice with a frustrated grunt and huddled deeper in her sleeping bag, careful not to wake Rin curled up next to her. She didn't want to rationalize her guilt; by kissing Sesshomaru, she was no better than Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru's ears twitched as the woman almost growled and tossed in her bedroll. 'You kissed the human.'

'As is my right,' Sesshomaru reminded his conscience irritably.

Shippo appeared by his side, solemnly sucking on his candy and eyeing the mound of sleeping bag. An emerald eye slid toward him, appraising and worldly. "She likes star-gazing," he said under his breath.

"This Sesshomaru does not care."

Shrugging, Shippo crunched the last of his lollipop, tossed away the stick and wandered over to Kagome, crawling into the bag with her. Rin sighed in her sleep and snuggled in closer, smiling contentedly as Kagome adjusted to her small form. Even Ah-Un looked cozy, his heads propped on his paws and his tail forming a protective circle around the group.

Suddenly feeling left out, Sesshomaru huffed at his own frivolity. 'To think that this Sesshomaru would be envious of the sleeping arrangements of lesser beings!' But they did look comfortable…nevermind. He glared over his shoulder into the dark forest.


	8. Doubts and New Directions

A/N: This chapter gets a little citrusy, but nothing you (as a mature reader) can't handle. Any full-blown lemons or limes will be marked as such and edited for content with the full (unedited) version posted on MediaMiner. There's a link on my profile. But don't get all excited, no lemon or lime in this chapter.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha et al belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 8 – Doubts and New Directions

Rin grinned and flourished a handful of wildflowers under Kagome's nose. "Rin picked these for you!"

"Thank you, Rin," Kagome accepted the bouquet with a warm smile. The girl had grown several inches since the first time she'd met her, but she still approached life with the same energy and vivaciousness of a young child. It wouldn't last much longer, she thought with a sad sigh, real life always ground out youthful fantasies and showed you just how foolish you'd been to believe that true love conquered all. Rin would hit puberty sooner or later, fall in love, and have her heart broken…

Kagome snorted to herself. 'Like Sesshomaru would allow any man to break Rin's heart, _if_ he lets anyone close to her.' Wistfully, she brought the flowers to her face, inhaling their sweet fragrance as she watched Rin run back into the field of daisies, Shippo hot on her heels. "Stay away from the edge of the cliff, you guys!" she called after them.

How long had it been since she'd believed she'd live happily ever after with Inuyasha? Even during their most tender moments together, the phantom of his love for Kikyou had hung over them like a shroud. 'Doomed, that's what I am.'

A pulse went through her body and she gasped, the flowers falling from numb fingers as she clutched at her heart.

"Miko, are you well?" Sesshomaru asked, appearing at her elbow.

"…yeah," she breathed. Had she imagined it? She scanned the edge of the forest out of habit, trying to pierce through gloom before her eyes moved to the jagged peak of the mountain jutting from behind the trees. Another pulse swept through her, knocking her to her knees but her head turned toward the valley visible beyond the edge of the field that was terminated by a sheer cliff.

"Miko."

She waved a hand to shush him, ignoring the narrowing of his eyes. Staggering to her feet, she stumbled toward the drop-off, her body tense, waiting for another pulse. She could feel it calling to her; it wanted her; she had to get to it! A strong arm wrapped around her waist just before she reached the edge, pulling her against him when a rush of energy washed through her and buckled her knees. He shook her gently as she pushed against his chest, her eyes locked on something far away and unseen.

"Miko, cease!" He tightened his grip as the woman tried to tug out of his arms. The fool, did she mean to go over cliff?

"I have to go, let me go!" she cried, her aura expanding to surround her, snapping with purifying power. Just touching her had became painful, but he held fast, dragging her away from the ledge. The further he pulled her from the cliff and valley, the more her power receded, until he was holding a simple mortal against his chest, her fingers absently prying at his arms.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" Shippo bounded toward her, hitting her chest with a thump. He patted her cheeks with tiny paws, his jeweled eyes wide with fright. Rin hurried after him, then hopped from one foot to the other as she tried to decide what to do.

"The jewel…" Kagome strained her upper body toward the valley, reminding Sesshomaru of a cat who wanted to leap out of his arms.

"The Shikon no Tama has been restored?" he asked, his chest rumbling against her back. She blinked rapidly, and then shook her head as if waking out of a dream. The strange influence was gone, leaving silence in its wake.

"No, I don't think so… but for a moment, I felt it…"

"In that valley?"

She nodded slowly, her eyes darkening as a haunted look crossed her face. If the jewel was there, then so were Inuyasha…and Kikyou. Could she face them together, accept the magnitude of his choice? Telltale stinging began to prick her eyes when hot breath bathed her neck, the steady rumble of the chest behind her soothing and she let herself relax slightly against him, covering the arm around her waist with her own. The tip of his nose brushed the sensitive skin between her jaw and ear, nudging gently.

"Then that is where we will go," he said quietly in deference to her ear that was so close he could almost taste it. She nodded again, taking a deep breath and pulling gently away. As loathe as he was to let go, he dropped his arms, allowing her to step away but watching closely in case she decided to make another break for the cliff.

"Come, Miko, Rin, Shippo," he gathered Ah-Un's reins and gestured for the pups to climb aboard.

Kagome shot him a shy look from under her lashes, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. His heart skipped a beat, weak hanyou heart that it was, leaving him a little shaken. "You can call me Kagome, you know."

He fought the urge to clear his throat nervously. "It would not be seemly to address you so informally."

She blinked, her sooty eyelashes kissing the tops of her cheeks. "I'm part of your pack now, remember? Besides, …I want you to," she said, blinking again, startled at her own admission.

"Very well…Kagome," he said, enjoying the way her name rolled over his tongue. Her smile chased the shadows from her eyes and before he'd realized it, he'd pulled her away from the dragon and onto his back. She squeaked, her arms tightening around his neck, the softness of her body pressing against his back.

"I-I-I can ride Ah-Un like before," she stuttered. He hadn't carried her since the day he'd taken her from her friends; she thought he didn't like to.

"This Sesshomaru would not be pleased if you leapt off of the dragon to answer the call of the jewel," he said after a moment.

"Okay," Kagome blushed, wiggling until she was comfortable and completely oblivious to the heated, half-lidded look Sesshomaru gave her over his shoulder.

XxxxxxxxX

"Sango," Miroku started as she directed the firecat they rode to make another pass of a familiar patch of forest.

"Don't say it," she snapped tersely. She would not accept that the girl who'd become her sister could be gone. That bastard…how could they have trusted Sesshomaru? He'd tried to kill them countless times and now…he'd taken Kagome.

"It's been four days since they disappeared. He's youkai; if he doesn't want to be found, then he won't be."

She shot him a fulminating glare before dashing moisture from her eyes with the back of her hand. "How can you just give up on her?"

"I'm not! Remember, Shippo is with her. He wouldn't let anything happen to her and you said it yourself: Sesshomaru's behavior toward her has changed," he lay a soothing hand on her shoulder, not surprised when she shrugged it off with a disgusted snort.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Sango murmured, her eyes unfocused and distant. When they'd first awakened and found neither inuhanyou nor miko in the hut, they'd figured he'd taken her away to treat her, as he'd done when she'd been dying. But when the day had surrendered to night and they _still_ hadn't returned, Sango had begun to worry. They'd left the village the next morning, bent on finding their friend but both secretly afraid that they were already too late. She should have listened to her gut when it had told her something had different between the two; she was too great a warrior to not trust her instincts.

"Sango," Miroku rubbed a small circle on her upper back.

"What?" she ground out between her clenched teeth. If he were to try something perverted, kami help her, she would knock the hentai off the cat and watch him fall.

His cursed hand seemed to sense the danger in which it was putting its host and did not travel lower than her shoulder blades. "I do not believe he means to hurt her. If he did, he wouldn't have saved her life."

Sango recognized the truth in his words, had had the same thought herself, many times, but it didn't help to dispel the foreboding that gripped her. She knew her friend and her trusting heart. She also knew that pain went beyond the physical.

XxxxxxxX

Kagome sighed as she pulled another kinky noodle of Rin's hair, tossing the clammy thing into the fire with distaste. "I'm very disappointed in you two. You know better than to waste food like that, especially on the road."

Shippo mumbled something unintelligible, wringing his fingers together as large, salty drops of broth dripped from his bangs. Inuyasha's yelling and heavy fist he could take, but Kagome's quiet disappointment was physically painful. He really didn't see the big deal; it had only been a little bit of ramen and it hadn't been intentional. One of Rin's noodles had splashed out of her cup, hitting him in the cheek, and he'd flicked a noodle back at her, landing on her kimono. Rin, of course, had retaliated and, well, things had gotten a little out of hand.

Rin seemed to hunch down into herself. "Rin is sorry, Kagome-sama."

Sighing again, Kagome patted the girl's shoulder as she got to her feet. "Just Kagome is fine."

Digging around in her bag, she pulled out her pajamas and a couple of spare tee shirts, grimacing as broth tricked down her back, pasting her blouse to her skin. At least the clothes in her were still clean, having escaped Sesshomaru's attention the night he decided to explore her backpack. She was especially glad he hadn't found her lacy little undergarments, but the heaviness in her heart prevented it from offering her any kind of relief. Would he have demanded that she not use those, too? 'Which reminds me, I'll have to go home soon to replenish my supply of feminine hygiene stuff since my stash is now unusable.' She made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat as she dug around, finally finding her bathing supplies.

"Ok, gang, let's go get cleaned up," she stood, her arms full of clean clothes, towels, and product. Both children got to their feet, heads still hanging in shame.

"Where are we going? The water's right here," Rin asked, confused. They had camped near the bank of a wide lake. Kagome always tried to stop near a body of water; it made cooking, cleaning up, and bathing that much easier.

"We all need baths, myself included, so we're going to the _girl's_ bath," she jerked her head toward a small inlet screened by scrubby trees. "Sesshomaru-sama, give me your outer haori."

After a glance at his soggy front, he complied wordlessly, holding it out to her as she juggled the clean stuff to one arm so that she could take his Ramen-soaked garment and not soil anything else. A spreading yellow stain marred the snowy white of his under haori and she frowned. "Hmmm, the inner one, too."

"But I'm not a girl," Shippo protested, the edge of a whine creeping into his voice.

"Shippo, don't argue. Sesshomaru, take off your shirt." She twitched the hand holding his red haori impatiently.

"Rin doesn't want to take a bath," she stated matter-of-factly.

Kagome fixed her with a stern, but not unkind, look. "I'm not giving you a choice, hun." She didn't relish bathing in the cold water either, but she wasn't about to climb in her sleeping bag with Ramen-water hair. A weight settled on her outstretched arm and her attention was riveted to the marble chest in front of her, the breath whooshing out of her. Slowly, her eyes traveled up the vale of his chest, over his lips to lock with his honeyed eyes, watching her with an inscrutable expression. Kami, but he was hot, and it wasn't just his finely toned body. It was the self-assurance that swam in his eyes, looking so out of place in a face that had shown insecurity for as long as she'd known him. Sure, Inuyasha talked tough, but it was a front. What would it be like to have that arrogant, self-confident gaze burn down on her from its proper body? Her stomach did a slow flip-flop. 'Get a grip, girl, you're staring!' He'd barely looked at her before he'd been spelled into Inuyasha's body; he probably wouldn't after he'd been returned. Suddenly, the cold lake water sounded like a pretty good idea.

"Right," she snapped sharply, tuning away jerkily and stomping down the path. Rin and Shippo skipped after her.

XxxxxxxxX

The kids had been sent back to camp, freshly scrubbed and dressed in her tee shirts, and Kagome finally had a moment to herself. Granted, she was in her pajamas, a cutsie shorts-and-tee thing with yellow ducks printed on it, washing a ramen fight out of four sets of garments, but at least she could think in peace and quiet.

Pausing as she felt a familiar twinge, she glance out over the dark water of the lake toward what she couldn't see but knew was there. Its call was soft, not demanding, as it had been earlier, but there was no mistake, the jewel would soon be restored. Pursing her lips as she resumed rinsing Rin's kimono, she snuffled quietly.

Tomorrow, they would reach the jewel, she was sure of it, but she didn't want to see _them_. Sometimes, she still tried to convince herself that she'd misunderstood his actions, that maybe he hadn't left her at all. As long as she didn't see them together, his betrayal wouldn't be real; she could still hope that he'd come back to her. A hot tear spilled over her bottom lashes as she blinked and she swiped at it with a pruned hand. 'No more tears for him, you've cried enough!' she told herself firmly. 'He isn't worth it.'

'But that's the problem, isn't it.' She wringed the water of the material in her hands, and then shook the wrinkles out of it. '_I'm_ not good enough for _him_.' Gathering the rest of clothing she had just washed, she wandered back into camp, pressing cool fingers against her eyes to lessen the redness. She didn't glance at her companions as she hung the garments on flat rocks near the fire to dry and as soon as she was done, she left the cheery circle of firelight and the children's enthusiastic card game for a walk along the bank of the lake.

'Did you want to always walk in Kikyou's shadow? Even if he'd stayed with you, he wouldn't have forgotten her. He's told you as much before. How long were you willing to wait for him? You're not immortal like he is.' Kagome ran her fingers through her hair, letting her tears fall freely. It was no use holding them back. 'Kikyou's immortal, well, undead; maybe they belong together.'

"Oh," she moaned quietly, staring out over the still, black water. She really, _really, _didn't want to see them. Would it be so bad if Kikyou restored the jewel? She would fix Inuyasha's wish and purify it, right? She could just fade away from the scene; Inuyasha wouldn't even notice that she'd left.

"You shouldn't stray this far from camp," Sesshomaru said quietly from behind her.

Kagome stiffened but kept her back to him. Despite the fact that he could smell her tears, she didn't want him to see her crying. "I'm fine, I can take care of myself."

"Indeed."

Her hand crept to the scars on her neck, tracing the long, faintly purple stripes that stretched from her jaw line to her collarbone. "He wouldn't hurt me again," she said, though her voice sounded tired, unconvinced.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed and he reached out, taking her shoulder and turning her to face him. "Why do you stay loyal to him after all that he's done to you?"

Kagome hurriedly dried her tears on her shoulder, "Because I promised that I would stay by his side."

"Even though he prefers the corpse to you?" he searched her face, not trying to hide the disbelief and irritation in his voice.

"She died for him. I can't compete with that. So, I just… follow."

Another tear slid down her cheek and she didn't bother to wipe it away. It paused on her chin, refracting the moonlight like a diamond. Unable to stop himself, Sesshomaru caught it on his fingertip and brought it to his tongue, tasting her sorrow, her love. What would it be like to be loved by this creature? A human she may be, but the cornerstone of his brother's strength. How could he not see this?

"Your quest is over. You no longer have to follow him."

She gave him a watery, sardonic smile. "The jewel still exists. You're still in the wrong body. I wouldn't call it _over_." Taking a deep breath, she seemed to gather energy from the air around her. "But you're right. I don't have to follow him anymore. He's left me, anyway."

The urge taste more of her, to feel her strength for himself, became overwhelming. It did not even occur to him to resist it. Slowly, he reached behind her head and tangled his claws in the hair at the nape of her neck, not stopping even when she shied away with wide, frightened eyes.

"Sesshomaru…" she whispered, placing her palms on his chest in order to push him away. Capturing her soft hands in his other hand, he brought her face to his and licked at the salty paths left by her tears. Whimpering softly, she closed her eyes, freeing more moisture from under her quivering lashes.

It was more than he could handle, the flutter of her heart, her delicious chamomile scent, the tang of her tears, all sang to his demon blood and stirred the foreign human blood. Groaning, he crushed her to him, closed his lips over hers even as they trembled against him. He teased them apart with gentle grazes of his tongue, longing for her to respond to his ardor. Finally, she opened her mouth, allowing him to deepen the kiss and explore her with his tongue. Fingers splaying against his chest, she leaned into him, moving her lips against him.

Releasing her hands, he slipped his arm around her waist, supporting her weight against him. This body wanted her, _he_ wanted her, and through her tears, she wanted him. But which him? With a growl, he broke the kiss and pressed into her, staring down at her face.

Her eyes were still closed but her cheeks were flushed and lips red from their kiss. Breath coming in short gasps, her breasts heaving with the effort, she let him sustain her, twining her fingers in his silky, silver hair. He licked a long trail up her neck to her ear, where he whispered her name.

"Kagome."

"Inuyasha…"

His heart constricted; there was his answer.

"…will be angry," she panted, a violent shiver wracking her frame.

"Fuck Inuyasha," he growled deep in his chest, furious that she was concerned about what his brother thought warring with the elation of knowing that she was kissing _him_, Sesshomaru. He claimed her lips again, bruising them with the force of the passion that threatened to consume him, delving deeply into her mouth where she received him with soft brushes of her tongue.

Making full use of both arms, he glided his claws over the tender mounds of her breasts, nipples hard through the fabric of her shirt. Pressing his groin against her stomach, he let her know how much he wanted her, smiling as she gasped into his mouth. One hand found its way down her torso, caressing the curve of her hip before reaching lower to run sharp claws over the smooth skin of her bare thigh.

She was ready for him; he could smell her arousal. He could take her now if he so chose and she would not resist. But that would mean he'd taken her with his brother's body, and that Would Not Do. He could wait. Massaging the flesh of thigh with the pads of his fingers, careful not to cut her with his claws, he planted a final kiss on her lips before pulling away slightly, pleased by the whine that issued from the back of her throat.

Kagome felt hot, heavy, his kisses having stirred in her a deep ache that only he could assuage. She whined again, his hand on her thigh branding her skin as they kneaded the muscles beneath, and tugged his head closer, tilting her head to the side and devouring his mouth as if he were a feast after a long fast. He surged against her, answering her call with his tongue and hands, lifting her up so that she could wrap her long legs around his waist and rubbing circles in her lower back.

Walking them to the edge of the lake, he lowered them onto the sandy ground, breaking with her mouth to nip at his mark on her neck. She gasped, turning her head and arching into him as her legs tightened around her waist. Unable to resist the invitation, he bit down gently, his teeth sliding into the old wounds as if they belonged there. 'Maybe they do,' the hazy thought floated through his mind and his lips smiled against her neck. He could not penetrate her elsewhere tonight, so he took his time reinforcing the mark, relishing the taste of her, the scent of her, the feel of her.

She ground against him, the soft spot between her legs temptingly moist through the fabric of her shorts. His hips rolled against her of their own accord, but he clamped down on his instincts, willing his body to obey him and her to calm down. Dusting her neck with kisses, trailing his way up to her face, he raised himself on his hands to look down at her. Her lips swollen and red, eyes dark with lust, she was more enticing than any demon bitch he'd seen. She pulled at his head, almost growling when he refused her.

"Not like this," he growled back, his breath harsh in his throat.

Her question was husky, laced with longing and disappointment. "Why not?"

"After."

She growled again, her lips puckering and eyelids lowering, and he almost chuckled, instead choosing to nuzzle her cheek with his nose as he settled on his back next to her. Squirming closer to him, she cuddled up against his side and settled her head in the crook of his arm.

'The night sky in feudal Japan never ceases to amaze me,' she thought detachedly to herself as she traced imaginary lines between the stars and named their constellations. The stars were so bright and numerous that sometimes she felt that she could touch them and on particularly bad nights, when Inuyasha had run off to see Kikyou, they seemed to weigh down on her, trying to smother her with their timelessness. Inuyasha…and here she'd just been making out with his brother. Did that make her a loose woman? He'd accused her of throwing herself at him, but he made her feel good and it had been so long since she'd felt beautiful and wanted in that way.

A meteorite streaked across the sky and she watched it fizzle out with a sad little smile; it had also been a long time since she wished on a falling star. Sesshomaru nuzzled her neck, nipping at his mark, and she snaked an arm around his neck. She just couldn't feel in the wrong. Inuyasha had made his choice and it hadn't been her. It was long past time to get over that. She knew that Sesshomaru didn't love her and she didn't love him but…maybe that wasn't what she needed right now. They had a chemical attraction that would more than likely fade when he returned to his body, at least for him, but for now, she would take what he could give.


	9. Restored

A/N: This chapter was a little difficult to write – I rewrote and rearranged it several times. I suppose I'm happy enough with it. Hope you guys are, too.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha et al are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 9 - Restored

Inuyasha scented the air as he smoothed the ruff of fur on his shoulder with his right hand, a gesture that had almost become second nature. If he'd realized it, he'd have been horrified, but he didn't, instead, letting the silky fur of the Mokomoko-sama unconsciously sooth him. Was he mistaken? Was he so lonely and desperate for her sunny smile that he was conjuring her scent out of thin air? Though accustomed to the pungent incense that burned in pots on the low alter, it hampered his keen nose.

He stole a furtive glance at Kikyou; still on her knees in front of alter. The jewel had begun to change, the depths of the crystal now smoky and dark instead of translucent. She hadn't moved for days now and he'd stopped keeping count, letting the hours drag on in a miserable fog. Several times, he'd considered leaving to check on his friends, but the knowledge that Kikyou would be left alone and helpless while in her trance stayed him.

There it was again, that mild scent of flowers that his mother had used to make tea…chamomile, the scent of home. Kagome. She was near?

Silently stepping out of the hut, he reflexively took a deep breath of clean air and moved toward the scent, tasting the wind for her companions. Three were missing: Sango, Miroku, and Kirara. 'They must be approaching by air,' he decided, scanning the skies above for Kirara's telltale flame. Empty even of clouds, the blue sky stared back, refusing to explain their absence.

Leaping from shrine's steep perch, an enormous outcropping of rock that extended almost to the tops of the forest trees, he landed softly in the grass that ringed it. Ancient, spiraling steps had been carved into the rock, reaching from the ground to the entrance of the wooden hut and worn smooth in the center by the passage of time and human feet. Inuyasha could have remained at the door of the shrine, since it provided complete view of the surrounding forest, but he was reluctant to meet Kagome while standing guard over Kikyou. He may be dense, but he wasn't _that_ dense.

With a last look over his shoulder, he darted into the thick woods, his hand resting on the hilt of Tokijin. Kikyou would be fine by herself for a few minutes while he found Kagome and explained the situation. She would understand; praise him, even, for taking matters into his own hand to fix his own mistake. He would take her into his arms, bathing him in the warmth of her eyes and the tenderness of her smile…

'Why is Kagome on Sesshomaru's back?' He stopped abruptly, his heart falling into his toes at the sight of her, arms wrapped around his neck, her skirt riding deliciously high on thighs that were squeezing his hips. Tokijin was unsheathed and in his hand before he could blink, and with speed he'd never before used, he charged his half-brother, fangs bared in a snarl.

"Inuyasha, no!" Kagome screamed as Sesshomaru wrenched her off his back, throwing her toward Ah-Un and drawing Tetsusaiga in one fluid movement. Landing in an undignified heap at the dragon's feet, she winced as the first ring of steel on steel broke the stuffy quiet of the forest.

"How dare you put your paws on Kagome, you bastard! And gimme back my sword!" Inuyasha roared, hacking at Sesshomaru with vicious swings of his blade. Sesshomaru parried easily, unsurprised that Inuyasha did not know how to use his advanced speed for anything but charging blindly.

"What are you going to do about it, brother?" Sesshomaru slid Tetsusaiga along the wicked edge of Tokijin, locking the hilts and disarming his brother with a quick flick of his wrist. Inuyasha leapt backwards, landing gracefully several yards away but not within reach of his sword, which had buried itself in the trunk of a tree and was humming quietly.

Inuyasha growled, cracking his knuckles as poison seeped into his claws. A cold gleam enter Sesshomaru's eye as he scented the windscar, readying the mighty fang for a killing blow.

Kagome saw her chance and took it, barreling between the brothers before they could clash again.

"Stop, both of you!" Sending them both franticly pleading looks, she stretched out her arms and hoped that they could stop their attacks before hitting her. Inuyasha twisted in midair, cursing as a splatter of poison narrowly missed the miko.

Sesshomaru swung the point of Tetsusaiga level with Inuyasha's chest, fighting against the snarl that pulled at his own lips. "Kagome, get behind me. It is time we finished this."

"WHAT?" Inuyasha's eyes widened in disbelief as his mind tried to wrap around what he'd heard his brother say. "Like she'd ever turn to a fucking poodle like _you_ for protection!"

"Miserable whelp, you have no inkling of how she's suffered under your so-called _protection_," Sesshomaru's voice, usually controlled and measured, dripped with venom more potent that the fluid that leaked from his half-brother's claws.

"Guys, I'm still here," Kagome warned as she waved her arms; she couldn't see this particular discussion heading anywhere productive. The brothers ignored her, continuing to trade insults over her head.

Spots of color appeared on Inuyasha's cheeks, almost obscene on the porcelain flesh, and he cracked his knuckles menacingly. "You ain't the one who's been saving her hide these last four years. Now watch as I hand you your ass on a platter!"

"Indeed, and how do you expect to hand me my 'ass' when you cannot find your own?"

"Fucking bastard, I'm gonna-"

"HEY! I'll say it!" Kagome's harsh shout cut through their bickering and both demons cringed.

Belatedly realizing that he was no longer subject to the subduing spell, Inuyasha leered at his brother and made a grab for Kagome's arm, still outstretched to separate him from his brother.

All Kagome could see were his claws sweeping toward her and the memory of searing pain and burning flesh consumed her. Backpedaling, Kagome shrieked and covered her throat with her hand, trying to avoid the grasp of those claws and the torment that they promised. Her back hit something hard, shielding arms encircled her, defending her from the images of pain and fear that loomed in her mind. Kagome pressed her face into his shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut as she fought to regain her control.

"K-kagome?" Inuyasha's broken voice sliced through the haze in her mind and she heaved a shaking breath and pulled out of Sesshomaru's arms, still rubbing at the scars on her neck.

"Do you not know what you have done, half-breed?" Sesshomaru reluctantly let her leave the circle of his arms, though his hesitation did not show on his face.

Eyes fixed on the five purple lines that ran lengthwise on her throat, Inuyasha ignored Sesshomaru's question. "How did that happen?" a hint of dread belied his quiet question.

Her hand ran down her neck, resting at the collarbone where the jewel had once lain, and she regarded him resentfully. Hurtful words and recriminations piled up behind her tongue, but she stamped them down. 'Let him explain himself, first.'

"Where have you been, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked softly.

"I've been trying to get my fucking body back; where do you think?" he groused but his voice lacked conviction and his eyes skittering away from her. 'You didn't hurt her, you _couldn't_ hurt her,' he repeated silently to himself.

"Let me rephrase the question. _With whom_ have you been?" Kagome's expression blanked as she watched him fidget, the movement of his eyes, the slight cant of his head betraying him as surely as if he'd shouted it to the sky.

"I see." The small hope she'd held in her heart shattered, fragments whirling and dancing as they cut her, leaving her bleeding on the inside. She'd known, she'd known all along, and yet…she'd dared believe that she could be wrong. She wanted to scream, cry, rant, rave, pound the ground with her fists, but she stood still, staring at a small patch of ground near her feet. No tears stung her eyes; she felt hollow, as dead as the woman he loved.

"What's that?" Inuyasha asked suddenly, sniffing at her as he eyed the bite on her neck. Something about it bothered him, the smell wasn't right…

Kagome covered with it her hand, turning her back to him, but Sesshomaru answered for her, "It is not your concern, Inuyasha."

"The fuck it isn't," Inuyasha retorted, regaining his wind when Kagome gasped, doubling over as power flooded her body, raw and not entirely pure. She felt her own spiritual power embrace it, cleansing it of taint, but the process felt like razors slicing through her veins. Just as the pain began to ebb, another pulse over took her, thrumming through her eagerly, searching for something.

"Sesshomaru," she hissed as she hit the ground. Again and again, the energy invaded her. 'In time to my heartbeat,' the afterthought drifted idly through her mind. Hands were touching her, muffled voices surrounding her, but she couldn't make sense of them. All she knew was the terrible power and the need to purify it.

A final pulse tore through her, stronger than the rest, and she felt it fully imbue her, then burst from her skin. For a moment, she felt no pain, floating weightlessly in a cool darkness that wrapped around her like the softest of down comforters. Far away, she heard someone chuckle and she smiled drowsily in response. Steadily, the quiet laughter grew closer, louder, more raucous and Kagome's grin faded as she tried to see who it was. The supporting darkness became constricting, the air suffocating as she gasped for breath.

Clean forest air rushed into her lungs as she blinked up at an azure sky through the treetops. Propping herself up on her forearms, she glanced around for her companions and found them lying on their backs on either side of her.

Hanyou ears twitched before their owner exploded with a sneeze, shaking his head vigorously. "Oi, wench, you okay?"

"Inu…yasha?" Kagome stared at the red-clad figure that glanced up at her, concern shining from golden eyes under an untidy fringe of silver bangs.

Inuyasha grunted a yes. It was then that he realized _both_ of his arms were reaching for her. Shock turned to anger when a striped arm snaked over her shoulder, accompanied by a low growl. Though wordless, he understood the meaning behind that growl, having issued it to Kouga on many occasions.

Kagome froze, those claws were now touching her: the very claws that had cut her and left her dying in agony. Larger than life, they filled her vision, splayed over her chest. Intellectually, she knew that the intent behind them was different, the _owner_ was different, but she couldn't help the terror that twisted in her gut.

Sesshomaru pulled away, alarmed by the scent of her fear and stiffness in her body. She'd never been afraid of him; why now? Her fear cut at him and he wanted nothing more than to bury his nose in her hair and rumble against her back until the tensions had seeped from her muscles. But he didn't; the urge to comfort her was as disturbing as her fear when he understood that he was himself again. He'd reacted on instinct when Inuyasha had moved to touch her; his scent in the mark calling to his beast to refuse this other male the right to touch what was his. Regardless of his internal war against a flurry of emotion he'd thought prompted only by hanyou blood, it didn't prevent him from pulling rank on his brother. "The miko belongs to me, now. Can you not smell that?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it with a snap when Kagome did not refute his brother's claim. Glancing from the miko, who was studying her fingernails, to his brother and back, he took a whiff, his eyes straying to the bite on her neck. Her clothes and skin smelled strongly of himself, but that bite…it reeked of Sesshomaru.

"Inuyasha…I…" Kagome started forlornly, but didn't have the heart to finish. How could she explain the comfort she'd found in his brother's arms? She didn't understand it herself.

"I leave you alone for a week and this is what you do?" he asked, aghast, and reared back, trying to clear his sinuses of Kagome's scent combined with that of his brother in a loud snort. "What _did_ you do?"

His accusing tone put her immediately on the defensive, even more so when he'd questioned her after she'd been kidnapped by Kouga, though she didn't have the self-righteous anger of the wrongly accused to back her up. Truth was, something _had_ happened, and she'd enjoyed it. She twisted her fingers together, considering how to apologize, and then her head snapped up, eyes blazing. No, she had the self-righteous anger of the abandoned, the injured, the betrayed.

"Who do you think you are, questioning me when you poisoned me, stole the Shikon no Tama and ran off with…with _her_!" she spat, leaning forward with clenched fists. "You have _no right_!"

Inuyasha sputtered: poisoned? _Poisoned_? Not wanting come to terms with that word and the guilt that came with it, he ignored it, instead concentrating on the mark on her skin tainted by Sesshomaru's claim. 'She _promised_ me, she promised that she would always stay by my side.'

"Kagome," Sesshomaru's rich voice caressed her, banking her anger as it commanded her attention. "The jewel?"

She nodded, twisting around to meet his eyes. "It's been restored."

"Then come," he said, and in a movement too quick for human eyes to follow, he wrapped his arm around her waist and hoisted them both to their feet. Kagome gasped, her eyes never leaving his molten pools of gold. It wasn't until after he'd ushered her to Ah-Un, settling her behind the children, that he realized she hadn't shown that spark of fear that she had earlier, but he had no time to dwell on it.

Inuyasha picked himself off the ground, casting a sullen glance at Kagome before racing off into the woods. With the jewel restored, Kikyou would be in more danger than ever; the burst of power would have been felt by demons for miles around. He would deal with his brother and his so-called _claim_ afterwards. He knew it wasn't as it seemed; it _couldn't_ be. Kagome would never leave him; she loved him.

XxxxxxxX

Kikyou stood at the top of the shrine steps, the deep purplish light of the restored jewel illuminating her haughty expression. Inuyasha skidded to an abrupt halt, his eyes fixed on the throbbing glow of the crystal cupped in the miko's hands, dimly registering the quiet rustle of Kagome sliding off of Ah-Un's back.

"Kikyou, you did it!"

"Did you have any doubts, Inuyasha?" she asked and then frowned, the triumph in her eyes darkening to anger and confusion. "You…you have returned to you own body. But how is this possible?"

"I don't know exactly. Kagome sort of…" his eyes slid toward the girl, who was pointedly staring everywhere but him. It didn't matter _how_, did it? He turned back to the undead miko. "Aren't you happy for me?"

Kikyou's soul collectors twined around her, lifting her and carrying her to him, their bodies stained purple by the jewel's tainted glow. "Consider it, Inuyasha. You were a full demon, and a Lord, no less. We could've led lives of leisure and power. Your hanyou body is a disgrace; why not leave it behind?"

Inuyasha stared open-mouthed at her. She'd wanted him to stay in his brother's body? An old memory of him and Kikyou, sitting together in the grass, drifted through his mind: _We could use that wish to turn you into a mortal…_ _what about you?… I could live life as an ordinary woman…_

"But Kikyou, I thought you wanted to live as an ordinary woman." Wasn't he good enough for her as he was? 'No,' he realized with a start, 'that was Kagome.'

She laughed shortly, a mocking, grating sound that Inuyasha knew far too well. "Who would want to spend a life of toil and drudgery with a _hanyou?_" she spat out the last word as if it were spoiled meat. "I've suffered enough because of this jewel; now it will provide for me the life I deserve."

Raising Tokijin, Sesshomaru had heard enough; the golem had as much as admitted her treachery. Once again, he underestimated his brother; in the past, he'd underestimated his determination, his perseverance, and his will to live. Now, he underestimated his hard-headedness. With a flare of brilliant power, Tetsusaiga transformed and blocked Tokijin's descent toward Kikyou.

"You are a fool, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru stated calmly, as if he weren't sending a blast of wicked energy at his brother, who had stalwartly planted himself between Sesshomaru and Kikyou.

"Bastard, you don't understand anything!"

Kagome numbly watched the brothers clash, Inuyasha defending Kikyou despite her cruel, callous words, despite the fact that Kikyou had once tried to kill her and had given the mostly complete jewel to Naraku. "He'll always love her, always defend her."

'Yes, he will,' her mind whispered back.

"Sesshomaru was right."

'Yes, he was.'

"It's time to finish this," she growled to herself, finally firm in her convictions. She didn't have to follow Inuyasha, didn't _want_ to. Let him have Kikyou; she didn't belong in this time anyway. She had a duty to purify the jewel. Once that was fulfilled…she could do as she pleased.

Hunched and hiding herself behind the trees and brush circling the shrine, she crept around the brawling brothers to where Kikyou was standing off to the side. The miko was watching the fight with a cold, satisfied smiling, loosely cradling the jewel to her chest. 'What is she waiting for?' Kagome wondered. Perhaps she was simply enjoying watching her hanyou defend her. Who knew? Kagome found that she didn't care.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, since she was not a physical fighter and was usually relegated to the fringe of the battle to fire arrows, she braced her self and then leapt out of hiding, bodily tackling Kikyou.

Both mikos hit the ground hard, Kagome grunting from the impact and Kikyou releasing a startled yelp. Dimly, she knew Inuyasha had turned, shouting Kikyou's name, and Kagome tangled her hand in Kikyou's hair, yanking with the force of years of pent up frustration and resentment. Kikyou shrieked, clawing at her face with one hand and flinging the other, still clutching tightly to the jewel, away from Kagome. Ignoring of the sting of nails on her face, Kagome thrust her elbow into the dead woman's solar plexus and grabbed her wrist as it involuntarily curled in.

After another sharp tug on her perfect, straight hair, Kagome was able to slam the woman's wrist to the ground, crying out as Kikyou's nails dug into her cheek. Baring her teeth in a feral snarl, Kagome again slammed her wrist into a sharp rock, almost laughing when her fingers uncurled and the jewel rolled out and onto the ground. Kagome snatched up the jewel, only to double over, breathless and in pain, as Kikyou managed to plant a knee in her stomach. Deep purple lightened to pink as the jewel purified in her hand.

Rolling away from the golem, Kagome frantically tried to come up with a place to put the jewel that allowed her to fight with both hands. Soul collectors dived at her, their wraithlike bodies and spindly legs cold and clammy against her skin. Kikyou staggered to her feet and struck out with a sandaled foot, landing a vicious kick in her lower back. Distantly, Kagome wondered if she bruised a kidney; the pain was excruciating. She rolled onto her side, flailing her legs and trying to trip the miko who stared down at her with an impious look of rage and hate. Out of options, Kagome popped the jewel into her mouth and grabbed a large rock, imbuing it with purification and chucking at the incensed miko.

She missed of course, but the second it took Kikyou to duck gave her the opening she needed to jump to her feet and slap her soundly across that pale, beautiful face. Kikyou touched the reddening flesh for a scant moment before lunging forward, her hands closing around Kagome's neck. Knocked off balance, both women tumbled to the ground, Kikyou's hands loosening as she landed on her incarnation, her face twisted and her eyes lit with an unholy light. Kagome choked as the breath was knocked out of her, swallowing reflexively as her hand came up to lock around the throat of her aggressor and roll her over, straddling her body and squeezing the breath out of her clay body.

"I'll give you the life you deserve," Kagome growled between clenched teeth as throbbing red clouded her vision and permeated her brain.

A clawed hand grasped the back of Kagome's blouse, pulling her off the miko and tossing her away. Dazed, Kagome lay on her back, breathing hard. Inuyasha kneeled next to Kikyou, staring down at her still, slightly blue lips, then turned accusing eyes onto Kagome.

"The fuck you think you were doing?" he yelled at her.

"She was going to use the jewel to…" a coldness spread from the pit of her stomach. "Oops."

Inuyasha glowered at her, clutching Kikyou's limp form to his chest. "Oops? What 'oops'? Where's the fucking jewel, Kagome?"

"I, uh, swallowed it."

"You WHAT? How stupid are you?"

"Silence, Inuyasha!" Sesshomaru snapped, stepping to stand next to Kagome's prone body.

Kagome sent the restored taiyoukai a grateful glance before she scowled at the hanyou. "It was an accident!" she protested, propping herself up on her elbows. "I didn't have anywhere else to put it, so I put it in my mouth! Then the she knocked me off my feet and…" she shrugged helplessly.

"Well puke it out!" he shouted, and then froze as the woman in his arms began to stir. Wonder dawned in his face as he bent to sniff her. No longer smelling of clay and bones, the woman blinked up at him, living and mortal. "Kikyou…" he breathed reverently. "You're alive."

Feeling like an outsider, Kagome hung her head, hiding the saccharine scene with a curtain of dark hair, and pushed to her feet. Sesshomaru bent slightly, inhaling the fragrance of her hair and noting the slight shift in her scent. The pale under-scent of humanity and mortality was fading, to be replaced by the clean, sweet smell of ozone. "It is already absorbing."

"Is it too late to get it out?" she asked, a hand pressed to her stomach as it gurgled and turned over, the coldness seeping into her bones and freezing the blood in her veins.

Raising an elegant eyebrow, Sesshomaru regarded her silently, and then nodded his head once.

"What am I going to do?" her eyes met his, pleading for something unnamed as the mahogany in her in irises darkened and swam.

Sesshomaru didn't understand the problem. He had his body back; the jewel was out of the hands of the undead miko. Kagome was…his. "You did well," he stated indifferently though his gaze was sunlight warming her skin. Kagome blinked, startled by the praise, and slowly smiled.

XxxxxxxX

Dried grasses rustled in the wind, bending and waving their seeded heads, except where a large patch of scorched earth scarred the field, barren and black.

No one stood in the grass, weapons in hand and courage in their hearts, as the ground trembled and ash puffed into the air.

No one notched an arrow when a cracked opened in the spoiled earth, releasing curls of noxious miasma and the tips of grasping tentacles.

No one tightened tighten his grip on his sword as spiny spider legs burst out of the ground, raising a mutated, fleshy body out of the ground

No one heard the maniacal laughter or saw the red eyes that gleefully devoured sight of their freedom.


	10. Recrimination

A/N: No, the last chapter was not the end! I'm not that evil! This chapter is somewhat of a continuation of the previous chapter, however. It should clear up some of your questions, but others will be revealed as the plot continues. Thanks for all of your reviews - I wish I could answer the anonymous ones, too!

Chapter 10 - Recrimination

(Previously)

_Sesshomaru didn't understand the problem. He had his body back; the jewel was out of the hands of the undead miko. Kagome was…his. "You did well," he stated indifferently though his gaze was sunlight warming her skin. Kagome blinked, startled by the praise, and slowly smiled._

(And now…)

Soul collectors swooped down and over Kikyou as Inuyasha held her close, retrieving the little blue orbs of light that floated from her body. Astonished, all he could do was cling to her, watching the serpentine demons and listening to the blood rush through her veins propelled by her now beating heart. Her body warmed in his hands, eyes glossing with moisture, lips parting to expel wet puffs as she breathed, truly _breathed,_ for the first time in over fifty years.

"How can this be, Kikyou?" Inuyasha whispered, running a gentle finger over the smooth skin of her cheek.

Kikyou blinked again, coming back to herself little by little, then gazed beyond him as the last soul collector spiraled out of sight. Placing a shaky hand over her heart, she felt the thrum of life in her body.

Her eyes locked with Inuyasha's, staring down at her with an amazed tenderness that made her stomach squirm. Did the man have no self-respect? Irritated, she brushed his hand away from her face but he only clung to her tighter.

"I know you didn't mean what you said to me," he told her with quiet conviction. He'd been wrong to doubt her earlier; since her resurrection, she'd said many horrible things, but it was the pain and anger of waking to a clay body that had been talking, not the sweet miko who'd taught him how to love. He'd weathered those storms, proving over and over to her that he had never forgotten her. Now that Naraku was dead and she was alive, he'd fulfilled his promise to her. He'd never felt this free.

"Unhand me, Inuyasha," she demanded, pushing out of his arms to sit up. It wasn't supposed to be like this; she was lying in the wrong arms with the wrong soul in her body. A soul of a simple peasant girl, an _ordinary woman_, it had been the last to break free and had not been collected.

How could things have gone so wrong? And more importantly, how to set things right? Her eyes wandered to the tall taiyoukai standing in front of her reincarnation. His body inhabited by Inuyasha's soul would have been her path to a pampered life, though by the way he was staring at the girl, it seemed that the lord did not hate humans as much as reputed.

Kagome's heart rate sped up as Sesshomaru leaned toward her, his eyelids drooping sensuously as he inhaled, the tip of his nose brushing her hair and sending shivers up the long strands to tickle her scalp. It was all she could do to stay on her feet; if he got any closer, she would melt.

"Hey, get the hell away from Kagome," Inuyasha sprang to his feet, apparently having noticed the couple as well.

Jerked violently back into reality, Kagome stepped away, shooting Sesshomaru an apologetic glance. He straightened, bored mask in place, though his brow was slightly creased in irritation. With a smooth step, he'd placed himself between the advancing hanyou and the girl who beguiled his senses.

"What business have you with my pack?"

"_Your_ pack? She ain't part of your pack," Inuyasha blustered. "Now get outta my way, mutt."

Shippo watched the confrontation build again and flicked his tail nervously. He was pretty sure Inuyasha didn't understand about the scent mark, being a hanyou and all, and he doubted that Sesshomaru would bother to explain it. 'Come on, Shippo, Kagome needs you! Get it together!' Mustering as much courage as his pint-sized body could hold, he shouted from Ah-Un's back, "We are so! Sesshomaru-sama-"

"Inuyasha, please don't make a scene," Kagome cut him off and stepped from behind Sesshomaru, suddenly exhausted beyond words. Despite the warm sunshine, she was cold, and arguing with a jealous, two-timing hanyou was not at the top of the list of things she wanted to do at the moment.

Scowling, Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his arms into his voluminous red sleeves. "I ain't the one making a fucking scene. It's _that_ bastard who-"

"Osuwari."

He hit the ground with a thud and a strangled yelp. "Wench! What'd ya do that for?"

"'Cause you're an idiot," Shippo piped up smugly from the sidelines. He hadn't missed being picked on and to see the ornery hanyou eating dirt once again was a beautiful sight indeed.

"Hn," Sesshomaru agreed.

Kagome sighed loudly, and began massaging her temples, trying to ease the headache she felt building behind her eyes. She wanted a long, hot soak and a nap, not a shouting match. "Let's try to keep this civil, okay?"

"An undertaking doomed to failure when involving the uncivilized," Sesshomaru quirked an eyebrow at his prone half-brother, ignoring Kagome's annoyed glare.

"No doubt about that," Shippo added and blinked innocently when Kagome turned her glower onto him.

Arms shaking as he strained against the subduing spell, Inuyasha scowled at the traitorous kitsune. "Why you little-"

"Enough. You have your body, your sword and your miko. We will be taking our leave. Though," Sesshomaru paused and let his eyes run over the woman who had risen to her feet and was watching the altercation with a disgusted twist of her lips, "she is not much of a miko." Kikyou grimaced, looking away, and Sesshomaru wondered what it was that drew his brother to her. She was certainly not as pleasing to look upon as Kagome, though the two did share a passing resemblance, and her power was considerable weaker. In fact, if he hadn't known better, he would have sworn that she was an ordinary human.

Finally released, Inuyasha leapt to his feet and blocked Kikyou from the taiyoukai's line of sight with his body. "You leave Kikyou out of this!"

"Still defending her, Inuyasha? I have said it before: you are a fool. You should kill her for her treachery."

"She didn't mean it like that! She'd never-"

"Osuwari!" Kagome shouted, the word exploding from her throat before she'd even known it was there. Inuyasha was flattened unceremoniously and groaned; it had _hurt_ this time!

She'd had it with his blind faith in Kikyou. 'How can he doubt me with no reason then turn around and put Kikyou on a pedestal and proclaim her innocence despite her own damning words? Time and again, I prove my trustworthiness and loyalty, only to be accused and berated, whereas Kikyou betrays us and he always comes to her defense. It isn't fair. I don't have to take this crap.' Pursing her lips into a thin line, Kagome kneeled in front of the hanyou, once more prostrate on the ground. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha, but I'm tired and I just…I just can't."

"What, so you're gonna leave? Run home? Fucking-"

"Osuwari." She braced her hands on her knees and pushed to her feet, her face blank and eyes dull with fatigue. Placing one careful foot in front of the other, Kagome walked toward the dragon and tried not to fall apart.

"Kagome! Don't-"

"He never learns, does he?" Shippo asked rhetorically, but Rin shook her head anyway.

"Osuwari." Ah-Un's back suddenly seemed like an insurmountable peak as she stood near his scaled rump. Just the idea of having to climb on his back was overwhelming and her carefully maintained façade of indifference was beginning to crack. He treated her so poorly; why was it hard to leave him behind? It felt like she was leaving some integral part of herself cursing and yelling in that shallow crater, something without which she couldn't function properly. She'd almost turned back to him when an arm wrapped around her waist, holding her up as mist gathered and congealed around her feet. Her last view of the hanyou was from high in the air through wisps of silver cloud as the world below her shrank. 'Odd,' she thought. 'The higher we get, the heavier I feel.'

XxxxxxxxX

"Who needs her, anyway?" Inuyasha burst out as he paced across the springy grass surrounding the shrine. After several steps, he would stop, scent the air, scowl darkly, and begin pacing again. He'd been doing this for over an hour and Kikyou was beyond irritated.

"If you do not need her, then stop talking about her," Kikyou snapped.

"I ain't talking about her!"

Kikyou tried not to roll her eyes, settling for a small, if exasperated, sigh.

Pace, pace, sniff. "I can't believe she left with him! She left _me,_ with _him_! And that runt Shippo took _his_ side. When I find him I'm gonna-" He stopped pacing and inhaled deeply, then scowled and planted his hands on his hips as a large cat passed them overhead. Roaring a greeting, the firecat churned the air with fiery paws as she swooped down to meet them.

"Took you guys long enough," Inuyasha glared daggers at the monk and taijiya as they dismounted.

Shrugging, Miroku rolled his shoulders and eyed the woman sitting behind the hanyou. She looked like Kagome in miko's garb, but she had the air of Kikyou. And yet, she did not have the aura of a priestess. Miroku placed a hand in the small of his back and leaned backward, sighing in relief as it cracked several times. "Inuyasha, is that you?" he asked, though by the tone of his voice, it was simply for formality's sake; Sesshomaru would not have greeted them in such a way.

"Yeah, it's me. Who the fuck did you think it was?"

"And Kikyou?" the monk hazarded a guess, since this woman did not have the scars that Kagome would. From the burst of power he had felt as they were out looking for Kagome, he supposed it possible that she could be Kikyou brought back to life.

She nodded, "Surprised, monk?"

"Verily," he responded, raising one eyebrow. She had not lost her venom; in fact, he disliked her more now than when she was undead. There was something twisted about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Where is Kagome?" Sango asked, her voice dangerously quiet. She stood at the ready, seemingly unaffected by the long hours spent on the cat's back.

Snorting, Inuyasha crossed his arms and glowered into the forest. Kikyou answered for him. "She left with Sesshomaru-sama." Sango nodded, unsurprised, and exchanged a glance with Miroku, which went unnoticed by the hanyou.

"Inuyasha, how did regain your body and how is it that Kikyou is alive?" Miroku asked him

Inuyasha shrugged, still looking away. "Kagome must have done it. I don't know."

Resisting the urge to brain the hanyou with his staff, Miroku sighed. "What were the circumstances of your exchange?"

Inuyasha glared at the monk, then sat abruptly with his hands planted between his feet. "She collapsed, I think when the jewel was restored. We were both trying to keep her from falling-"

"Both?"

"That bastard and I! Do you want I should finish or are you gonna keep interrupting?" he snapped. After a placating gesture from the monk, he continued. "Anyway, a light shot out of her and knocked us out. When we woke up, we were back."

"Hmm," the monk bowed his head in thought. "Well, the wish was impure. Perhaps the restoration of its power simply undid what shouldn't have been done in the first place."

"But Kagome didn't have the jewel with her when it happened, did she? Why would it go through her like that?" Sango asked the monk, pointedly ignoring the hanyou.

"She had it when I was given a living body," Kikyou interjected, but was also ignored.

"Kagome has always had a deep connection to the jewel. Didn't she tell us that she was born with it in her body? Inuyasha, where is the jewel now?"

"Stupid bitch swallowed it." Inuyasha never saw it coming. One moment, he was sitting on the ground, and the next moment he was laid out flat, a large welt raising the hair behind one triangular ear. He didn't even have time to yelp. In retrospect, he decided that he _much _preferred a sitting to being hit with a boomerang. Moaning, he rubbed at the lump and stared up at the furious taijiya brandishing her Hiraikotsu.

Two spots of color appeared on her cheeks, though not out of embarrassment. Eyes blazing, she glowered down at the prostrate hanyou. "Idiot! How dare you talk about her like that after what you did?" At the annoyed, somewhat bemused stare from Inuyasha, she swung Hiraikotsu again, smiling in satisfaction as bone struck bone with a hollow _thunk_. "Didn't you see the scars on her neck? You almost killed her; would have, if not for your brother!"

Inuyasha growled and dodged the next blow, "I don't wanna hear it. She _left _with him."

"You poisoned her, Inuyasha, when you left with Kikyou," the monk said solemnly, his normally pious voice tinged with accusation. "She would have died a week ago."

"Impossible!" Inuyasha spat out. "I'd never hurt her!" He growled louder, trying to push aside the image of purple scars lining her neck, her terror as he grabbed for her with Sesshomaru's claws, her slight form quivering against Sesshomaru's chest.

"We didn't think it was intentional, but it would have been fatal, nonetheless."

"What…how did he save her?" he asked, his anger deflating as he realized the enormity of what he'd done. He hadn't meant to; he'd had no idea! But that didn't change the fact that he'd almost killed her, she who loved him as he was, she who he loved and was now in his brother's arms. He sank to the ground, clutching his head with his claws, not aware of the keening that issued from his throat.

"We don't really know. He saved her life, and that was enough for us."

Kikyou laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and he shrugged it off, then leapt to his feet and stomped away, putting distance between the woman and himself and ignoring her soft cry of protest. He couldn't stand to have her touch him right now. She lied to him and he'd believed her. She'd tried to deceive him and he'd defended her. She'd come back to life in his arms and she'd pushed him away. Because of her, he'd lost the one thing that really mattered most to him.

And for once, he didn't know if Kagome would forgive him.

XxxxxxxxX

Sometime during their flight and the half-waking twilight in which she had drifted, Kagome had slipped an arm around Sesshomaru's waist and was now nestled in the crook of his arm, dozing on her feet against his chest. Somehow, she'd managed to find a comfortable spot between the spikes and metal brackets of his armor. In the back of her mind, she thought she should be scared, or at least a little concerned, that she was riding on a cloud in the embrace of a demon lord who had tried to kill her on more than one occasion, especially since said demon was now at full capacity, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

She was hardly aware of landing, so softly did Sesshomaru's cloud alight, fully awakening when the wind no longer hummed its song in her ears. Raising her head from its hard silk pillow, she'd blinked at the ground, now solidly beneath her feet. His arm shifted, a striped wrist sliding further over her stomach and she strangled a gasp at the sight of those claws on her person. He stiffened, she could feel the tension building in his body, but instead of pulling away, she closed her eyes and buried her face in the silk of his haori. She wouldn't let this irrational fear rob her of her newfound security. 'Well, maybe not _wholly_ irrational,' she thought begrudgingly.

When the strain had drained from his muscles, she stepped away, immediately regretting the loss of warmth but in desperate need of a bath…or a nap. Maybe the nap first. Was there even a place to bathe here? Speaking of which…

"Where are we?" she mumbled through a yawn, balling her hands and rubbing her crusty eyes.

"Out of reach of the hanyou," Sesshomaru stated, his bored tone slightly colored with irritation.

"Oh. Good." Kagome didn't think she could handle him for a while. All she could see in her mind's eye was Inuyasha cradling Kikyou's body so tenderly after she'd just said such horrible things to him. 'I've never thought less of him because of his mixed blood. He's fine the way the way he is. I'll never understand him. I don't think I want to try, anymore.'

Loosening the ties that held her sleeping bag in a tidy roll, she spread the thick fabric next to Ah-Un, who had landed and was now lying with his feet tucked under him, watching Shippo and Rin bicker good-naturedly. "When will we get back to the village?"

"The village?" Sesshomaru canted his head as he stared down at her, wondering which village she meant: the one in which they'd left her friends, the one in which the old miko resided, or her own, wherever that was.

"In Inuyasha's Forest. Everything's done now, isn't it? I doubt you want to be saddled with me for any longer than you have to."

He was silent for a moment as he processed her statement. He'd thought that he'd made his desires apparent by his actions, some of which had been unintentional but he'd meant them all the same. "You would not be here if this Sesshomaru did not wish it."

Kagome laughed, a short humorless sound that Sesshomaru decided did not suit her. "No more wishes, please."

"Miko," he intercepted her sharp glance and started again, "Kagome. You reversed my brother's wish when the jewel was restored." Kagome shrugged, then nodded. "The undead creature…how was she revived?"

Worrying her lip between two teeth, Kagome fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. "I'm not really sure. As I was fighting with her, I remember wanting to _give her the life she deserves_… and I know that she wanted to live again…that must be when it happened; right before Inuyasha pulled me off of her."

"And the jewel?"

"I'd already swallowed it," Kagome said, thinking along the same lines that the taiyoukai had obviously been following.

"Hn." He crouched behind her, flaring his nostrils to take in the perfume of her skin, so clean and energizing that it was almost intoxicating. "And why do you have this strong bond with the jewel? Surely it has had other keepers."

She jumped slightly, not having noticed his proximity until he spoke. "I was born with it in me and was bitten out by a Centipede youkai not long before I…broke it."

"Indeed." Though interested in her answer, he could only half listen as he inhaled again, his eyelids hooding his eyes as she filled his senses. He had been attracted before, but that was nothing compared to the addiction he was developing. It was the influence of the jewel, he was certain, that freshened her scent and stirred his youkai, but that didn't change the fact that he was becoming hopelessly ensorcelled.

Shrugging out his armor, he tossed it aside and moved to pull her into his lap. She jerked when his hand curled around her waist, and again he sensed that strange flutter of fear. Suddenly irritated, he pulled her around to face him. "Why are you afraid of me?"

The sharp scent of anxiety spiked and she almost cowered under his gaze, refusing to meet his eyes and pulling at the arm he held with an unnecessarily tight grip. He released her abruptly and she fell backward, almost shaking with relief. Following her line of sight, he realized she was staring at his hand. He flexed his claws experimentally and watched her startle at each pop of his knuckles. So, she had learned to fear him, but it taken his half-brother's idiocy. He found that her fright did not please him. Curling his hand into a fist, he planted it knuckle down on the ground and leaned forward until he could see her eyes under bangs.

"I will not hurt you," he reminded her sternly.

"I know," her voice was breathy and thin but she finally looked him in the eye. He felt better about what he saw there; she trusted him. Leaning closer still, he nuzzled her cheek with his nose. Kagome let her eyes slip closed as she leaned into the caress, her breath catching in her throat as his breath bathed her ear.

A giggle, followed by a theatrical shushing, broke the mood and they both froze. Turning their heads in unison, they met two pairs of bright eyes and matching wide grins. Rin giggled again, and Shippo nudged her side with his elbow. It was Shippo who finally broke the silence.

"Should we, ah, go find something to do?"

Kagome felt her face ignite and she sat back, pressing cool hands to her cheeks. "Shippo!"

"'Cause Mama and Papa always told me to go play when-"

"I just want a nap!" Kagome cut him off, waving her hands frantically. Shippo gave her a look that said he wasn't fooled and Rin just giggled.


	11. No Regrets

A/N: Lemon in this chapter, though edited for content according to FFnet's policy. I marked it with a 'XXX' – you'll also notice a break in the flow of the story – sorry. The unedited version is posted on MediaMiner(dot)org and AdultFanfiction(dot)net. The links are in my profile. Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 11 – No Regrets

Twining her fingers in the silky hair that spread over her like a blanket, Kagome sighed and tried to ignore the insistent tug of her mind back to consciousness. The arm around her waist tightened fractionally and the chest beneath her cheek rumbled quietly, just for her. Well, she liked to _think_ that it rumbled for her, but she knew in her heart of hearts that it couldn't be so. He was with her for reasons of his own and she probably didn't want to know them, anyway. It was only a matter of time before he stole away his warmth and the peaceful contentment that came with his melodic voice and golden eyes.

'Besides,' she reminded herself, 'I'm on my way home and that will be that.' The thought filled her with a sudden, sickly dread, but of what, she didn't know. Curling in closer against the youkai that had somehow become her anchor, she tried to leach from him as much of his presence as she could, gathering it inside of herself and holding it close to remember when this world had been left behind.

She felt him shift under her, cool knuckles tucking under chin and tilting it up. Eyes blinking open, she met his slight frown with a sad smile. His frown deepened imperceptibly but the heat in his eyes scorched her soul with its intensity, blinding her with a golden rain of fire, reaching into her and rousing a part of her that had lain dormant for years. As if under a compulsion, she loosened her fingers from his hair to stroke the stripes on his cheeks with her thumbs, cupping his face with her hand. His eyelids dropped to bank those smoldering embers and suddenly, she couldn't stand to be so far from them. Pulling herself up his body with a hand on his armless shoulder, she pressed her lips to his, almost groaning when his arm wrapped around her back to crush her close. She tasted him desperately and he met her hunger with a fervor that rivaled her own.

Scraping his fangs against her tongue, he drank in the drops of her life's essence with a greed he'd never known he possessed. Even her blood held the dazzling spark that was uniquely Kagome and it blistered and danced on his palate. Too soon, her lips abandoned his as she sat back, eyes wide and a little glassy.

"Bath," she mumbled, pulling herself out of his lap and taking a couple of shaky steps toward her yellow pack. Fishing around until she regained her composure and found what she wanted, she stood and hugged the bundle to her chest, in awe of and embarrassed by her own brazenness.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked the inuyoukai who had stood and looked to have every intention of following her.

Sesshomaru growled softly as she spun and hurried out of the glowing ring of firelight, wondering how a bath could possibly exclude him. One did not kiss this Sesshomaru like that and then go bathe _alone_.

'Who knew,' Kagome wondered as she willed her blood to still, placing her fingertips on bruised, swollen lips as she scurried down the path that Shippo had assured her led to a moderately warm spring. 'Who knew that the cold-hearted Sesshomaru could be so passionate?' She was very glad she had the forethought to ask where it was before she'd taken that nap. It would have been mortifying to flee, and then have to return to camp to ask, and then run off again. The kids were sleeping; she would have had to wake one of them up or ask Sesshomaru, and by that growl, she doubted he'd appreciate it! She came to an abrupt halt. 'You ran away again, silly girl. When are you going to stop running?'

She glanced over her shoulder into the darkling woods, considering going back to get him. 'Keh. Like he'd want to do _that_ with _you_. You all but attacked him when you woke up.'

'I didn't hear him complain. And what about the other night?'

'He was in Inuyasha's body, remember? Inuyasha is always a little more emotional on his human nights. It stands to reason that Sesshomaru was a little more emotional as a hanyou.'

'Right…but still…I wonder what it would be like. Would it be so wrong, just once? I'm leaving soon anyway.' Her eyes grew distant as she stared back toward camp. It was as if she could sense him; his frustration was almost a tangible thing and if she reached out, she could tap that thread…

She shook her head, 'You're imagining things, you hussy.' With an exasperated sigh, she stomped up the path to the spring. Kicking off her shoes and pulling off her socks, she put an experimental toe in the water, wincing at Shippo's definition of warm. Perhaps not cold, it certainly wasn't as warm as she'd hoped. Grimacing, she stripped and waded in up to her hips, soaps in tow.

Scrubbing down her body with a foamy loofa and letting the conditioner sit in her hair, the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle and that _sense_ she'd felt earlier returned with full force, though now the thread felt more like a cord. Hastily scanning the trees, she almost dropped the sudsy wad of plastic, but she couldn't see anything. Brow furrowed in consternation, she continued to scrub, taking special care to exfoliate her elbows. She'd read somewhere that smooth elbows were sexy elbows, and though she didn't know what could possibly be sexy about _elbows_, she exfoliated anyway.

There it was again; the awareness of him, so close that she could almost taste him, and he was tugging on that strange strand that seemed to connect him to her. She did drop the loofa this time and took an alarmed step backward, splashing ungracefully. 'Hentai! He's watching me!' She ducked into the water and choked back a scream, staying there a moment before hastily rinsing the conditioner from her hair with trembling fingers. When he didn't show himself, she settled down, a wild, deliciously naughty idea occurring to her.

'It's now or never. Do you really want this? If he takes you up on it, there's no going back.' Hesitating, she chewed her bottom lip. 'What about Inuyasha?'

'This isn't about Inuyasha, it's about _me._' Before she could talk herself out of it, she smiled wickedly into the darkness that hid his perch and scooped up the loofa and body wash that floated near her. Taking exaggerated care to squeeze soap into the plastic folds and work it into lather, she stood again and straightened an arm, soaping it slowly, starting at the fingertips and working up to her shoulder and across her chest. When both arms were liberally covered with white foam, she brought the puff between her breasts and squeezed, smiling lazily as a long trail of suds slid down her belly. Throwing her head back so that the wet strands of her hair touched her butt, she soaped each breast with languid circles, for once glad that the cool water had hardened her nipples.

She heard a quiet rustle from where she knew he sat and turned her back, offering a fine view of her tiny waist and flared hips that would disappear into the water just below two dimples. Dipping the loofa into the water, she held it to her shoulder and squeezed out the water, letting a soapy stream cascade down her back. She froze at the sound of sloshing water, then forced her hand back into the spring and to her other shoulder, adding a small toss of her hair for effect.

She gasped when hot lips met her neck, nipping at the small protrusion of her spine at the base and trailing kisses across her shoulders. A long, wet tongue lapped at the water that beaded on her skin and the poof was plucked out of her limp fingers to be tossed into the spring. Knuckles grazed down her ribcage, tickling deliciously and sending a flush through her body that sizzled the water that clung to her flesh, enveloping them both in a cloud of sweet steam. Cool water was poured over her back and she cried out in shock as the cold fingers of liquid slithered down her body, followed by a searching mouth and nibbling fangs. He caught the skin of her hip in his teeth and suckled, drawing a guttural sound from her throat and an eruption of gooseflesh.

Her knees buckled and a strong arm wrapped around her, supporting her weight with a hand on her breast. Her heart almost stopped, a rush of adrenaline tingling through her limbs, so alarming was the sight of his claws splayed against her flesh, and the lips on her back froze. Bracing herself against the demon behind her, she pulled his hand from her breast and in front of her face, forcing herself to trace each purple stripe on his wrist with her fingertips. His silky head nudged her back, encouraging her to take her time, gliding a cheek across her skin until his breath tickled her waist. Drawing his hand to her face, she rested her cheek in his palm, waiting for her heart to resume a more normal pace before brushing feather light kisses along the base of his thumb. Slowly, she let his claws slide down her face and over her neck, concentrating on pleasure they wrought instead of the remembered pain.

In one swift movement, he'd turned her around and swept her up against his chest, holding her there with his arm while he devoured her mouth. As soon as her feet hit solid ground, he bore down on her, lowering her to the bank where he'd spread his hakama and Mokomoko-sama and pressing the length of his body against her.

"What are you doing to me?" he whispered against her mouth as he nipped at her bottom lip and ran his hand over the contour of her flank.

XXX

Sesshomaru collapsed heavily on top of her, robbed of consciousness by the wash of purification.

Kagome crawled back to reality, blinking against the drops of light that floated soundlessly to the ground like snow. Sesshomaru was a dead weight on her body, and bliss blurred into fear as she realized that the air hummed with purification.

"Sesshomaru, are you okay?" she jiggled his arm that lay limply across her chest, the air rushing out of her in a sigh of relief when he finally blinked groggily and grunted.

'Was he okay, what an interesting question. Would he survive the surge of purification? Yes. Could he live without the creature beneath him? No. He wasn't sure if that fit the definition of 'okay' or not. However, he was certain that things would work themselves out after a nap, for this Sesshomaru always got what he wanted.

Kagome had somehow missed the memo on the prudence of sleep after sex, never having had previous experience of afterglow or the lethal fallout that sometimes accompanies it.

'He didn't bite me again,' Kagome thought as the night breeze dried the sweat on her exposed skin, chilling her despite being sandwiched between a fur pelt and a large demon. His nose was buried in the crook of her neck, breathing moist air against the puncture scars he'd left days before but hadn't reopened. She kind of missed that; it had been painful but in a dangerously erotic sort of way. Was he going to let them fade now that he was back to normal? She supposed he would since he didn't really need her anymore. And what did she care; she was going home for good soon and they would have faded anyway. Still, she was irritated; she was good enough to fuck but not good enough to _belong_ to him.

'Maybe you're reading too much into this?' the thought bubbled up through her growing frustration and doubt and she viciously popped it. Frowning, she tried to scoot out from under him but was pinned in place when he trapped her legs between his and slid his hand underneath her back, the movement reminding her that they were still quite intimately joined. 'Kami, but he's a heavy dog when he wants to be,' she squirmed again and he growled in her ear, more of purr than anything else, and she gave up. This was what she'd wanted, after all, a special memory to treasure when the mundane world of jobs and traffic tickets reasserted itself. No matter that it wasn't with the right dog…

Blinking up at the stars that winked overhead, she stopped that train of thought and held it up to the faint starlight. 'That's not right, is it. I could have stayed with Inuyasha but I didn't. I let him go.' Sesshomaru rumbled that strange purr again, snuffling slightly as he pressed his nose into her hair. The tenderness of his touch brought a familiar sting to her eyes and she blinked rapidly to clear them. 'Oh, why did I do this? It's made everything so much more complicated than it had to be.'

One hot tear escaped her efforts and slid down her cheek, puddling in the ridges of her ear. A wet tongue snaked into her ear, lapping at the salty liquid and then tracing its path up her cheek. Helpless against the frisson that shook her body, she tangled her fingers in his hair and laid her cheek against his. Chasing away the confusion that was threatening to strangle her, she closed her eyes and breathed in the scents of their lovemaking. 'No regrets.'

XxxxxxxxX

"What was that?" Miroku sat up sharply, knocking his staff over and setting the little gold rings to jingling. "Did anyone feel that?"

Sango yawned and gave the monk a speaking glare from her makeshift bed against Kirara. "Feel what, monk?"

Rubbing his bangs out of his face and smoothing his short ponytail, he tried to get the fine hairs that had stood to attention to lay properly again. "A flare of immense spiritual power," he shivered and chafed his arms. "Lady Kikyou? You must have felt it."

The woman made a noncommittal sound and rolled over in her bedroll. She had not felt it and it was beginning to worry her. After Sesshomaru's comment about her not being much of priestess, she'd tried to exercise her miko powers to gauge what'd he meant and had come up with nothing. She had lost her power or it lay dormant. Either way, she was not about to admit it.

Miroku gave her a calculating stare, fairly certain of what was going through her mind but willing to let her keep her secret if she so chose. Neither Inuyasha nor Kikyou would tell them why they'd both run away with the jewel or why Kagome had left with Sesshomaru _again_. Time would reveal all; he'd just have to wait…perhaps until the new moon, when he could beat it out of the truculent hanyou.

"Inuyasha?" he called up to said hanyou who was sitting in the same tree in which he'd taken residence when they'd decided to camp, refusing to come down even for dinner and hardly saying a word.

"Shut up and go to sleep," came the gruff reply, and Miroku figured that was all he was going to get out of him that night.

Sango yawned again and curled up with her back to the fire. "As much as I hate to say it…he's right. If it was spiritual, then it probably won't attack us tonight. I don't think it's anything to worry about."

Miroku shrugged and picked up his staff to lean against his shoulder, settling his back against the tree. They might dismiss it now, but he had a feeling that it was important somehow and directly concerned them. However, he could wait until morning to ponder it.

Inuyasha listened as the breathing of his comrades slowed and deepened, signaling their passage into sleep. He _had_ felt it and it troubled him, greatly. The only sources he could think of with that much spiritual power were Kikyou and Kagome, and it sure as hell hadn't come from Kikyou. He had half a mind to race off toward the source but the other half warned him away, showing him Kagome's hard eyes as she kneeled in front of him: _I'm sorry, Inuyasha, but I'm tired and I just…I just can't._

What had she meant? Can't _what_? She just wanted a break, right? Go home, take some tests or whatever, cool off, just like always. In no time at all, she'd be sitting him so hard he'd need a cold compress on his back. He _deserved_ that kind of sitting! Then, he'd make everything up to her, tell her how much she meant to him. Sighing, he clenched his fist, digging claws into his palms. He _hoped_ that this was all it was. She'd never just walked away from him like that, not to join someone else. Try as he might to tell himself that she would get over her anger and come back to him, he couldn't shake the relentless anxiety that amplified his insecurity and insisted that _no,_ she _just couldn't_, that he'd lost her.

But what had set off that immense burst of purification? Were they fighting something? If his brother allowed so much as a scratch to mar her skin, he'd rend him limb from limb. Growling harshly, he was standing on the branch, Tetsusaiga gripped in white knuckles, before he caught himself. Though strong, the power did not feel like it was released in self-defense. A heavy knot of foreboding tightened in his stomach; whatever had been the cause of that flare of power, he should have been there to stop it but now it was far too late.

With stiff, jerky movements, he sat back against the tree trunk, for once not being able to find a comfortable spot. He couldn't leave; he still had a woman to protect, didn't he? He'd promised…and oh, how bitterly that word dissolved on his tongue.

He glanced down at the miko huddled in sleep below him. If he'd known the phrase, "distance makes the heart grow fonder", he would have admitted (though not out loud) that he understood it perfectly. Now that he had her back as living being, he couldn't quite remember what he'd loved so dearly about her. She was melancholy, quietly impatient and suffered his brusque façade with a resigned tolerance. Her smile was rare and forced, never quite finding its way to her eyes. Kagome's spunk and kindness, hot temper and forgiving nature were completely absent. 'She's not Kagome,' he mused silently to himself. 'And Kagome's not Kikyou.'

XxxxxxxxX

Jolted awake by a kitsune bottom to the gut, Kagome shielded her eyes against the garish morning sun and groaned. Shippo bounced on her stomach again, his green eyes dancing with mischief.

"It's past breakfast time and Rin and I are hungry," he stated with a knowing little grin.

"Since when did my body become a trampoline?" Kagome grouched at the peppy kit, holding him still with two hands under his armpits. Shippo's grin stretched across his face and Kagome just sighed. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up."

"You might want to get dressed first," he suggested, desperately trying not to break into unmanly giggles, especially when Kagome just stared at him blankly. "Unless you've decided to wear fur?"

Opening her mouth to ask what he meant, Kagome glanced down at herself and realized that she was wrapped in Sesshomaru's Mokomoko-sama – and nothing else. With a strangled squeak, she dropped the kit and hoisted the edge of the pelt up to her chin, dismayed when it shifted to reveal most of one leg. Blushing, she huddled under the fur and fumed. How had she gotten back to camp in the first place? They had fallen asleep on the bank of the spring…Sesshomaru must have woken up and brought them back, but he wasn't with them now. Some favor; if they'd stayed by the spring then at least she could have entered the campsite with her dignity (and apparel) in tact.

"Where's my clothes?" she hissed at the kitsune who had lost the fight with laughter and was now madly cackling and clutching his stomach. Shippo shook his head and pointed toward a small bundle near the path to the spring.

"Did you have a nice bath?" Rin asked innocently and Kagome's face flushed darker, which sent Shippo into new peals of laughter.

"Shippo, I swear, you've spent too much time with Miroku," she huffed, gathering the heavy pelt around her body and stomping toward her clothes. Snatching them from their drape over spiked metal, she stormed around the nearest tree and struggled into her cream blouse and blue skirt, realizing belatedly that her undergarments were missing. Were they still sitting on the bank of the spring? She made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat and tried to twitch the wrinkles out of her skirt. Running her fingers through her hair to detangle some of the knots, she decided she looked presentable enough, though she was certain she could use another bath. Even to her weak human nose, she smelled strongly of Sesshomaru. No wonder Shippo knew what they'd been up to.

Stepping out from behind the tree that had served as her changing screen with the Mokomoko-sama draped over her arm, she put on her best no-nonsense face and planted a fist on her hip. A more sober Shippo snickered behind his hand but managed to hold back the bulk of his mirth. Pursing her lips, Kagome fought another blush and gave him a cool stare. "And you wonder why Inuyasha always beat up on you."

Shippo's hand dropped from his mouth as the hilarity drained from his eyes. "Sesshomaru-sama doesn't hit me."

Instantly feeling bad for her words, Kagome dropped the pelt on top of the armor and swept the little kit into her arms. "No, he doesn't."

Hopping up from her seat near the fire, Rin skipped over and wrapped her arms around Kagome's waist, resting her head on her chest next to Shippo. "Shippo and Rin are happy for you, but Shippo thinks your red face is funny."

Kagome rolled her eyes but gave both children a final squeeze before sending them back to their seats by the campfire. In several short minutes, she had hot cereal boiling in the water Shippo must have fetched earlier that morning and was watching the children color with Shippo's crayons. Smiling fondly, she went to work on the snarls in her hair, brushing it until is shone. Embarrassment aside, she would miss these mornings and the children she'd come to think of as her own. It was strange how easily Rin had burrowed into her heart, joining Shippo in that special place where maternal instinct guided her. And Sesshomaru…

As if materializing from her thoughts, she felt his presence appear at her back and expanded her aura to brush against his youki. He returned her ethereal caress, and then settled a large hand on her shoulder. Covering those deadly claws with her fingers and holding them gently, she leaned her head against his arm. 'Aren't you annoyed with him over not biting you?' her inner voice suggested.

'I don't really have the time for that, do I?' she scolded her mental voice into silence. For one night, the beautiful demon had been hers and despite his reasons for allowing it, she wouldn't trade it for anything.

A hissing and sputtering erupted from the small campfire and Kagome leapt from her seat to save breakfast. Pouring out servings of porridge, she handed bowls to the children and raised an eyebrow to Sesshomaru, who shook his head once.

"Why can't we have Ramen for breakfast?" Shippo asked, eyeing his breakfast with distaste.

"Just eat it, Shippo. We have a long day of travel ahead of us if we want to reach the village tonight."

"Why do you want to go home so badly, Kagome? You're not still mad at me, are you?"

Kagome sighed and smoothed his hair back into his ponytail. "No, Shippo, I'm not angry. It's just something I have to do." This was going to be more difficult than anything she'd ever imagined, leaving them all behind. Claiming a bowl for herself, she ate slowly, trying to capture and retain the flavor of oatmeal cooked over a campfire. However, the cereal coated her tongue like wet cardboard and she ended up giving the rest to Rin, who had wolfed hers down as soon as it was placed in her hands. Maybe next time, she'd bring back that instant oatmeal with dried fruit and loads of sugar…Kagome stopped that train of thought before it could take root in her mind. 'This is it. There won't be a next time.'


	12. Myoga Spills the Beans

A/N: Yes, it's late. Sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 12 – Myoga Spills the Beans

At a sharp prick on his cheek, Inuyasha slapped the flat of his hand against his face, only dimly registering the pained grunt under his palm. Moving his hand to the front of his face, he stared at the squashed contents with resigned irritation.

"So happy to see you, milord!" Myoga squeaked as his body reformed.

Inuyasha resisted the temptation to squish him again and responded with a rude, "Feh." He was feeling more anti-social than usual, this afternoon. The cheerfully babbling brook, Kikyou's strangely ingratiating and conciliatory behavior, and Sango's and Miroku's light laughter floating up from the bank were putting him on edge, constantly reminding him that he'd lost something. He'd lost his home. The only thing he could think of doing was to go back to Kaede's village and somehow making amends. She would be there, of course she would; she always went home when they had a fight but he had to catch her before she went through the well. Whether or not she could (or would) come back was not a risk he was willing to take.

He should have pushed them to keep moving, but Kikyou had asked for a break. Granted, they'd been on the move since dawn and he'd been pushing the pace pretty hard; the flare of power he'd felt the night before and the ache of her absence was still chewing on the back of his mind, worrying it with sharp puppy teeth. However, the woman had been riding on his back! He was doing all the goddamn work!

"Quit your whining," he'd snapped, not really remembering to whom he was speaking. "We still have a ways to go before we reach the village."

Miroku had come to her rescue from his seat behind Sango on Kirara. "Come on, Inuyasha, the Lady Kikyou is not used to traveling in such a manner. I, myself, would not mind refilling my water skin and stretching my legs."

"Shut the hell up, monk!" he'd yelled and pushed off the ground with more force than necessary, being rewarded with a quiet 'urp' from his passenger. Her discomfort, obvious now though he hadn't noticed it before, had sent a spike of guilt through his gut, which had only served to irritate him further. After all, it was his passenger who had cost him his contentedness.

"Inuyasha, be reasonable!" Sango had chastised him, exasperation coloring her voice.

"Keh! Kagome could handle it!" The slight gasp, the sudden stiffening of her body caused Inuyasha to miss his next step and he staggered slightly before regaining his balance. Then, his words hit him in the stomach and he'd wheezed, feeling three unfriendly stares on the back of his head. "Fine!" he'd shouted, abruptly dropping his arms so that Kikyou slid unceremoniously off his back. "We'll take a fucking break for you weak humans. A _short_ break!"

Without a glance at Kikyou's face, after all he didn't need one, he'd seen the expression on Kagome's face too many times to count, he'd launched himself into the tree to brood. Myoga's interruption of his thoughts, no matter how desolate, was not welcome. At least he knew they weren't in any danger, which was a pity because he would have welcomed a good fight.

"Such a greeting for you loyal retainer," Myoga sighed in mock despair, almost bursting with the juicy bits of news he'd picked up. "After all the work I went through to gather information!"

"Feh."

"And what a lovely mood you are in today! Might it have anything to do with the Lady Kagome's absence?" Myoga asked flippantly and unwisely. Inuyasha squished him.

A much more sober and cautious Myoga reinflated in Inuyasha's palm and took a moment to straighten his clothes. Well, it had been a stupid thing to say to the touchy hanyou, but he'd simply assumed that the sweet young miko had gone to her own time and with Kikyou traveling with them, he hadn't expect to incite his ire quite so quickly. Myoga saw Inuyasha's other clawed hand move into his line of sight and cleared his throat before he could be flicked into the air. Oh, the life of a flea!

"Lord Inuyasha! Just a moment!" he waved his hands and sighed in relief when the hand paused. "I've heard many strange things over the last few weeks and must speak with you!"

Inuyasha's fingers twitched, but he brought his hand down anyway. "Spit it out, old man."

Myoga chose to ignore this insult in order to prevent more bodily harm. He cleared his throat, warming up the joys of gossip mongering, even with an irate hanyou with itchy fingers. "I heard that the evil hanyou, Naraku, was defeated! Your work, I presume?" At Inuyasha's grunt and nod, the flea bounced merrily in his palm. "That's wonderful, I always knew you could do it!"

"That ain't news, Myoga."

The flea was not to be dissuaded. "There is a rumor that you and your half-brother were placed under a wicked spell that diminished your powers and made you both temporarily insane!"

"I'm fine," Inuyasha grumbled, wondering uncharitably if maybe the flea was disappointed that his little gem of knowledge was false. He felt under no obligation to inform the flea of the true nature of the spell or its effects. "That it?"

"No, not by far!" Myoga chafed his hands, a glint in his beady eyes. "I also heard the Shikon no Tama was stolen by a powerful sorceress who intends to make slaves of handsome demons! Which is absurd, of course, because Kagome-sama has it. Right, milord?" Though the old flea had scoffed at this tidbit of information, especially when he had found Inuyasha in a tree and _not_ blasting holes in things with Tetsusaiga, he still found it an interesting tale.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and reconsidered squishing the flea. Myoga must have seen his claws twitch again, because he barreled on with his next headline. So preposterous, he was sure it was entertaining enough get a laugh out of the hanyou, who seemed to need one. Myoga had certainly laughed, though not until he was out of earshot of the lovely mite who had told him. "This bit of information is very new, having only happened last night, and is sworn true by its source and eyewitness!" Pausing for effect, Myoga relished the small gleam of interest in his lord's eye, despite his irritated scowl. "She said that your brother, Lord Sesshomaru-"

"Half-brother," Inuyasha growled, interrupting the flea's momentum.

"…she said that Lord Sesshomaru has mated a human miko!" Myoga finished with a flourish and waited for the hilarity to commence. Inuyasha stared at him as if he'd grown a third pair of arms, mouth agape and eyes wide with shock and horror. Myoga shifted restlessly, "Ahaha, isn't that rich, milord? Your brother…and a human…miko…?"

Inuyasha felt his thought processes grind to a halt, could almost hear the wheels and cogs in his brain creak and groan as once well-oiled teeth stuck and jammed.

"What?" he croaked, pinching the flea, who had suddenly decided he'd worn out his welcome, between two claws that had moved by themselves, bypassing his crippled brain altogether. "What did you SAY?" The volume of his voice rose with each word and ended on a roar, sending a nearby flock of roosting birds into an airborne panic.

Myoga trembled, wishing he'd kept his big mouth shut or that he'd decided to spend more time with that pretty mite or that he'd never met the mite in the first place since he'd met prettier bugs, after all or-

Inuyasha shook the flea, baring his teeth to expose sharp fangs and digging his free claws into the bark of the tree branch. It wasn't possible, Sesshomaru would never…but he'd taken Kagome…what if…there must be some mistake…

"Inuyasha, why are you yelling?" Sango called up to him, clearly annoyed by the disruption of the peaceful afternoon. Where were Kagome and her subduing spell, anyway?

"M-m-milord! I-I'm sure there w-w-as nothing t-t-t-o it!" Myoga stuttered out between shakes, sure that his poor head would never sit right on his neck again.

"Of course there's nothing to it!" Inuyasha snarled, squeezing the flea until he turned blue. Kagome would never do that! And none of the stupid flea's other stories were right, so it wasn't necessarily Kagome! Or his brother! After all, he'd spent over a week with Kikyou while wearing Sesshomaru's skin – the rumor could be about that! Right?

A sharp stone hit his temple and he lost his grip on the flea, who leaped away to the relative safety of Miroku's shoulder. Inuyasha met the monk's glare and pinned his ears threateningly.

"I must protest your abuse of your vassal," Miroku said sternly, refusing to be intimidated by Inuyasha's aggressive display.

Myoga shook the blood out of his swollen head, sighing in relief when it was finally redistributed throughout his body. "Oh, thank you, Miroku-sama. He can be such a trial!"

"Oi!" Inuyasha dropped from his perch and landed in a crouch, his knuckles cracking as his flexed his claws, murder on his mind.

"What has him so worked up?" Sango asked, testing her grip on Hiraikotsu in case she needed to do some noggin knocking.

"Perhaps I should wait until the Lady Kagome returns," Myoga said with a sidelong glance at the snarling Inuyasha. She could subdue him while he told the others his news and then beat a hasty retreat.

"The Lady Kagome is with Lord Sesshomaru, but fear not! I will not allow you to come to any more harm. So," Miroku pluck the flea from his shoulder by the back of his kimono and eyed him speculatively, "why is he angry, Myoga?"

"Hmm, she's with _him_, you say, hmm," the flea mumbled, frantically trying to find a way out of this mess. He'd honestly believed that the mite had been mistaken in her description of the youkai, which had been: tall, silver hair, and crested with a crescent moon and stripes. However, any youkai worth her salt would know a miko when she saw one. She hadn't named any names; he'd supplied that on his own, delighted by such a tasty morsel of gossip but under the assumption that she had embellished her story. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that _particular_ name to the lady mite…

"Myoga," Sango warned. She had one eye trained on the hanyou and her fingers tensed as he rose out of his crouch but didn't loosen his hunched, belligerent stance.

"He said that bastard brother of mine mated a miko," Inuyasha ground out between clenched teeth.

"It was only a rumor!" Myoga supplied hurriedly, waving his hands.

"A rumor?" Miroku raised an eyebrow and gave the hanyou a penetrating stare. Had Inuyasha bedded an undead Kikyou while in Sesshomaru's body? Twisted, but he had to give the hanyou credit where credit was due. He didn't know if he'd have the fortitude to lay with a clay doll, but then again, she was a fine looking woman… "How old is this 'rumor'?"

"She said she saw them together last night on the bank of a spring." As Myoga began to retell his tale and delve into the sordid details, the glowering hanyou slipped the old flea's mind. It was titillating tale, after all, one that he might have given his master's left arm to witness. "The miko was bathing when the youkai approached; she seduced him with bubbles and he took her on a bed of his own silks and furs. The passion of their joining shook the air with spiritual power!" The old flea chuckled to himself, remembering younger days and grand adventures.

Sango choked and blushed, an immediate image of Kagome and her soaps forming in her mind. No male in his right mind would be able to resist that, but why would she have chosen Sesshomaru, of all demons? Had she truly seduced him or had she simply been caught unawares? Her stomach did an uneasy roll, 'If he forced her, I'll kill him myself.'

"Last night? Who saw this?" Miroku asked, swallowing harshly with a mouth that had suddenly gone dry. He'd never known that Kagome had it in her. Well, he'd _imagined_ it a time or two (maybe more), and it also involved Sango and lots of slippery mud, but that was different. _Bubbles_… But it just didn't sound like the Kagome he knew: innocent, spunky and in love with Inuyasha. She would never allow something like that to happen on a whim; there must be something that they didn't know or Myoga was pulling romance out of his ass. Though he would never begrudge a man his pleasure, the idea of Kagome with Sesshomaru was strange, to say the least.

"A lady mite youkai who had taken refuge in a an owl's feathers," Myoga explained with a knowing leer.

Clearing her throat, Sango tried to regain her composure. "The, uh, miko was…willing?" she asked hesitantly, needing to know before she approached her friend.

Myoga just chuckled and waggled his bushy eyebrows, "Oh, she was more than willing, if you know what I mean."

Sango wished she didn't. "I didn't know that mites were such…voyeurs."

"It ain't true!" Inuyasha burst out, shaking his fist at the lechers and an embarrassed demon slayer. "It could be anyone! That bastard, when I find him I'm gonna cut off his-"

"Calm yourself, Inuyasha! As the good flea said, it is only a rumor!" 'Besides,' he thought to himself sarcastically, 'many youkai travel with mikos and carry fur.'

"It better be, because if he's touched her…" he couldn't finish the thought aloud. It was too horrible, too unthinkable. His Kagome would never betray him like that, not with his own brother. Despite the denials clamoring in his mind, his heart was encased with lead, each beat straining against unyielding metal that was slowly constricting and crushing the tender muscle. The pain was unbearable and unrelenting, his thoughts broken and conflicting, so he buried them deep within himself as he'd trained himself to do since the death of his mother. Don't feel, don't think. 'It isn't true, it isn't true…I'm gonna kill that bastard.'

Tensing his muscles to spring, he was so wrapped up in images of Sesshomaru meeting a gory demise on the business end of Tetsusaiga that he almost yelped when a soft hand settled on his shoulder.

"Inuyasha, please don't leave," Kikyou forced down the mounting glee and gazed up at him soulfully, her dark eyes wide and pleading. Hanyou he may be, but he was also the son a lord and in line for the leadership of his house if something fatal was to happen to his older brother…such as being hit with a Backlash Wave…

All was not lost; she could still salvage a soft life from this mess yet. Though Inuyasha was pining for that floozy in the short skirt, he would remember that it was she, Kikyou, who had first held his heart. Yes, she had said some things that she had meant at the time and now regretted saying (but still meant), but he had never been able to hold a grudge against her. With a couple of firm nudges in the right direction and the leverage of Myoga's 'news', true or not, he would be Lord of the Western Lands as she had originally planned and he would give her the life she deserved. However, she could not let him run off on his own; he needed her guidance.

Inuyasha stared at the hand on his shoulder, slim, fragile fingers pale against the red of his haori. They tensed, pressing oh so gently against his flesh and felt his gaze drawn to her face. 'Kami, she looks like Kagome with those eyes. Kagome…' he broke eye contact to glare into the forest, rolling his shoulder, trying to shrug off the hand that wouldn't budge and instead fastened on to his haori. "Let go, I have to save her."

"Save her from what? What's done is done, there's no going back," she tugged lightly on his sleeve to emphasize her point.

"Kagome would never let him touch her!" 'She loves me!' he added silently, dragging his clothing out of Kikyou's grasp with a sharp yank.

"Then she is in no danger! Inuyasha, you promised to protect me! You can't leave me here!" Kikyou mentally shuddered at the plaintive, helpless sound of her own voice, but she was playing on two strengths of his character, turning them into weaknesses: his honor and his desire to protect the weak, despite all claims to the contrary.

Growling, Inuyasha stomped several steps away, scenting the air as he tussled with his conflicting desires. He wanted to rush headlong back to the village and let the humans follow at their own pace but he had _promised_. Uttering a short, sharp bark of frustration, he turned to his companions. "Well? Are you gonna stand around all day with your mouths open or are we gonna go?"

XxxxxxxxX

Kagome sat on the small landing outside of Kaede's hut, chin in her hands as she watched the sun set over the rice patties. Brilliant reds and golds painted the sky and reflected in the flooded fields, turning the dark, shallow water to blood. Long green stalks waving gently in the breeze, the patties reminded her of a giant Chia Pet that had been scalped and left for dead. In reality, the rice patties didn't exist; the village men wandering home with bent backs and aching feet had already died, their cozy huts demolished in favor of apartment buildings and a corner market. They were long gone, as were her friends, and her adventures were nothing more than myths that might have made their way into the annals of history, though probably in a form so convoluted that she may not even recognize them should she find them. Shifting this thought through her mind and recognizing its truth did nothing to alleviate bands tightening over her heart or the crushing mantle of sorrow that had settle over her shoulders when the little village had finally come into view.

As they'd descended, the children on Ah-Un and Kagome nestled against Sesshomaru's chest on his silver cloud, Kaede had lumbered from her hut to gaze up at them, a hand shielding her single eye from the last rays of the sun, a smile of greeting stretching her lined mouth. Kagome had almost broken down, so familiar and dear was the little scene, but she'd sucked it up and waved as if nothing were wrong. The old miko hadn't remarked on the absence of the rest of her group, merely raising a bushy eyebrow and welcoming them into her hut for a bite to eat. The children had jumped at the chance and clattered to the fire and bubbling pot of stew, but Kagome had declined despite the hollow ache in her stomach. Food wasn't what she needed. Taking a seat on the rough boards of Kaede's porch, she'd watched Sesshomaru gather up Ah-Un's bridal and lead him away from the village, and there she'd stayed with her morbid thoughts.

The boards creaked as Kaede stepped next to her, a silent, sympathetic presence and a pillar of wisdom on which the girl had come to rely more than she'd ever realized. How had this village and the faces of her friends become more real to her than the world in which she was born? When was the last time she'd spent any significant amount of time in the modern era or had given real thought to her future there? Everything she had done there up until now was to prepare for her life here; shopping for travel food and first aid supplies, taking correspondence courses so that she could spend more time here and lean to better treat her friends' injuries. She'd lost track of her high school friends – even Hojo had given up on her and moved away for college. What would she be doing with her life if she'd been allowed to live it as a normal girl? She had no idea; what was normal?

"Ye are leaving," Kaede wizened voice broke her thoughts and Kagome jumped slightly, almost having forgotten that the old miko was standing next to her.

"Um…" Kagome said uncomfortably, squirming a little now that she could feel Kaede's searching gaze on her back. She supposed she'd have to tell them soon than later, but now that she was being confronted with the task of saying goodbye, she had no idea where to start. She wasn't very good at saying goodbye; she was much better at storming off in a snit.

"It's okay, child."

"You'll make sure that Shippo is taken care of?" Absently smoothing her skirt over her thighs, Kagome watched the silhouette of a man remove his conical hat and arch backwards with a hand on his lower back.

"Aye."

"And you'll tell them that I love them?"

Kaede was silent a moment, her slightly labored breathing pausing then resuming in a soft sigh. "Ye do not intend to wait for them."

The statement hung in the air, heavy and sad but not an accusation, and, if possible, Kagome felt her heart sink lower. It was cowardly, she knew, to jump down the well without telling any of her companions, but it was the only way she force herself to do it, short of picking a fight with Inuyasha. If she had to endure the tears, hugs, and pleas of her friends, her resolve would weaken; she'd decide to say a _bit_ longer, maybe to see Miroku and Sango married, then meet their first child; the days would stretch to months would stretch to years…

And then there was the issue of Inuyasha and Kikyou. Would they have already joined as she and Sesshomaru had? Could she look him in the eye as he came racing into the village, Kikyou perched on his back like she had done so many times? Would he smell her betrayal on her skin and lash out or simply turn his back? She didn't know and she certainly didn't want that memory to be tarnished by harsh, jealous words of a man who had spurned her love for four years. How could she tell him that her heart now belonged to…

Kagome ruthlessly squelched that thought before it could finish. Neither she, nor her tender, wounded heart, belonged to _anyone_. What she had shared with Sesshomaru had been wonderful and magical but nothing more than raging hormones and chemical attraction. That's all it _could_ be because she was not going to have her heart broken again by another careless dog demon. She was _not_ in love with Sesshomaru. _Definitely_ not.

"It will be easier this way," Kagome said finally.

XxxxxxxxX

With half of his attention, Sesshomaru watched Ah-Un snuffle at a gopher hole under the fronds of a lime green fern. The other half was fixed on an invisible point to his left, the terminus of the thread that connect him to Kagome. He was vaguely uneasy and it bothered him; something was not quite right with his female, the dark scent of sadness was muting her clean fragrance.

_His_ female…the thought was inordinately pleasing, despite her upset. Such an odd little creature: a woman just over the cusp of girlhood, once human but now something more, a miko who belonged to a taiyoukai. Striped eyelids hooded a self-satisfied gleam; such a treasure, and she was his.

She had wanted to come to this village though it was obvious that it was not her place of origin; it was the same village to which they had gone right after Inuyasha had made his stupid (though fortuitous, in his case) wish. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it; her family did not seem to live here. Why had she wanted to come?

He had brought her here to settle her affairs before returning with him to the West. Not really knowing much about mikos, he'd figured that she'd need to find a replacement miko for her village or something of that sort. He hadn't asked, simply assuming that she knew what to do and would do it posthaste. His lands had been left unattended (unless he counted Jaken, which he didn't) for too long and undoubtedly had rumors to squash.

Cocking his head, his eyes grew distant as they rose to follow the tension of that strange bond he shared with his female. She was moving slowly but purposefully away from the village. 'A bath,' he thought, a lascivious smile tugged at his lips as he pictured her silhouetted in the setting sun, the lays rays of light caressing the curve of her hips and flaring in her dark hair. His hand tightened around the reigns in his palm; perhaps she would appreciate some company.

'But why would a bath incite such grief?' With each breath, the air grew heavier with her sorrow, laden with tears that he'd yet to smell, clogging his throat and tingling in his nose. More than a little alarmed, he dropped the reins of his dragon and concentrated on her distant aura, wondering at the keenness with which he felt her emotions. It shouldn't be possible; they had not shared the final bond of mated youkai and he didn't know if they could since, though she was no longer quite human, she was not youkai. Why was she so unhappy? He had to find whatever was making her so upset and dispose of it. The reason behind the empathy could wait.

Sesshomaru tasted the air, narrowing his eyes slightly when the scent of spring water was absent. Where was she going? There was no other village around, no humans strolled the forest, and no youkai lurked in the shadows. The only things he could recall in that direction were the ancient tree and a dry well.

A whisper at the back of his mind gave him pause: the well…she and Inuyasha had fought about that well. He hadn't paid much attention at the time, for the argument had been nonsensical and childish. Something about 'going through the well', but he must have misheard. It had sounded like she used the well to enter her village. Absurd, though his brother had been adamant…that she didn't go home…

His back stiffened and muscles tensed as he realized that he'd made a gross oversight. He had always seen the miko dressed strangely, but had not even thought to question the reason. Her accent, the 'ninja food', the books and soaps in her bag, he'd encountered none of these things before meeting her but he'd never bothered to analyze them. Her friends had taken them for granted and he, not caring about the trappings of mortals, had accepted them as par for the course. Suddenly, he felt rather foolish and a bit peeved.

His female was keeping secrets from him; this was unacceptable.

With even, measured steps, long hair swaying gently as he moved, he stalked his prey, annoyance and concern scratching at the backs of his eyes. She would answer his questions, reveal her secrets, explain her melancholy, and then…he would assuage her sadness with his lips and fingers, lose himself in her heat…

Sesshomaru quickened his pace as irritation sputtered weakly in the storm that had blown in with the thought of her supple form beneath him, snug and slick around him. Questions and secrets could wait; he would not.


	13. Irresistible

A/N: Lemon alert, edited out and marked with 'XXX'. For the unedited version, see my profile with for the links to AFF and MM.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 13 - Irresistible

Kagome dropped her bag against the dry, splintered wood of the well, sighing with a great rush of air that seemed to come from the depths of her soul. 'Do souls breathe?' she wondered distantly. 'They hurt and break and die… but maybe that's just my heart.' She joined her bag in the grass, tucking her legs under her and leaning her forehead against the rough boards, still warm from baking in the sun. 'The well never sees sunlight in my time,' she thought, placing the flat of her hand on the wood, tracing the grain lightly with the pads of her fingers.

She'd told Kaede that leaving this way would be easier, but now that she was here, facing the shadowed unknown of a future in her own era as she stared into the well's open maw, she realized how difficult this was really going to be. 'You don't belong here! You've fulfilled your purpose as shard detector and hunter of Naraku. No one needs you anymore: Inuyasha has Kikyou, Sango has Miroku, and Kaede will make sure Shippo has a family.' Curling her hand into a fist, she rolled her head to rest her cheek and shoulder against the wood. 'Maybe Shippo could stay with Rin and Sesshomaru…' the name sent a shudder through her body and her heart lunged against her ribs.

'Don't think of him,' she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. He _certainly_ didn't need her. It would be best for her if she just forgot…

A familiar tug pulled at her soul and her eyes popped open, scanning the line of trees that ringed the well. Silver glinted through the towering trunks and she caught her breath as heat pooled low in her abdomen, her determination to forget him lost in the shimmering strands of his hair tossed gently by the breeze. Why did he have to be so beautiful? Why did her body have to ache when his glittering eyes caressed her? Why was he here, anyway? She hadn't intended to see anyone before she left.

"Uh oh," she muttered under her breath, wondering if he had figured out how she used the well against which she was now leaning. If he were anything like his brother, he would not like her leaving. She hadn't kept the well a secret, exactly, but neither had told him anything about it; he hadn't asked.

Maybe he'd just been out for a walk and had accidentally found her here? She discarded that notion as soon as it crossed her mind; his expression was far too intense for one who was on a casual evening stroll. Moving with a fluid grace that belied his swift pace, his boots barely bent the grass as he approached. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn that he was a predator stalking his prey…and if she didn't get her butt in gear, he would be upon her!

Frozen into immobility even as her brain raced, Kagome pressed her back against the well and watched him come with wide eyes. He was pulling on their thread of connection, willing her to stay still and Kagome wondered if she had use of her legs, would she have only stumbled toward him?

With a whisper of silk, he surrounded her, his hand placed next to her head on the side of the well, his curtain of hair falling around them as it had last night…. Kagome almost moaned when his face filled her field of vision and her lips parted hungrily, ready for the kiss she was sure was to follow. He stopped a breath away, warm, moist air fanning her cheeks and sending a tremor through her belly.

His eyes locked with hers for a long moment, searing a path to her soul and holding her still as surely as if he'd pinned her there. Slowly, his eyes slid to her backpack and her heart fluttered uneasily. Just as slowly, his gaze slid back to her, darkening, though his impassive expression did not change.

"This well," he said softly, dangerously, a husky quality roughening his melodic voice. His fingers curled slightly, sharp claws gouging into the wood.

Kagome shivered, "It takes me home."

"Indeed."

"I have to go home," Kagome said with as much conviction as she could muster considering that the very timbre of his voice was making her panties conspicuously wet.

He was as motionless as stone; only his molten eyes flickered darkly in the depths. This place bothered him; a faint, familiar scent lingered in the air around the well and he could feel a thrum of power in the earth. Unnerving for it's oddity, for he could usually place a scent decades after encountering it, but it was weak nonetheless. More disquieting was the current situation: there was something she wasn't telling him, some unspoken truth that twisted her words into a different meaning. Underneath the tendrils of lust that curled around her, her grief burned with a finality that put him on edge. What had his idiot brother said during that fight about the well? _'What if you can't get back?'_ Perhaps she didn't _intend_ to come back? If there was such a chance, then, "No."

"Sesshomaru, I-"

"No."

Anger at the pompous lord broke through the spell he'd woven around her and Kagome glowered at him, pacing her hands against his chest as if to shove him away. She may as well been pushing against a mountain for all the good it did. "You can't keep me here!"

"I can; you belong to me."

"No I don't! You didn't bite me, or whatever, when we, you know," she blushed and gave him another ineffective push for emphasis, but in only served to remind him of his main reason for seeking her. Despite her anger, she didn't smell inclined to deny him. Hooding his eyes with sleepy lids, he leaned forward to scent her neck, brushing her cheek with his hair and smirking slightly when her heart rate and breathing accelerated.

The mark had not faded much; his scent was still strong on the small punctures next to her scars. It didn't need reinforcing, which was why he hadn't already done it, but if she insisted, he would be happy to oblige. He snaked out his tongue, running it over the slightly puckered skin and was rewarded with her violent shiver.

"Sess-shoma-ru," she protested, almost more concerned by her body's reactions than his actions. If she didn't make him stop soon, then she would dissolve into a jiggling pile of Kagome flavored Jell-O. "I'll- I'll purify you!"

"This Sesshomaru will survive," he breathed against her wet skin.

Kagome made an inarticulate sound in the back of her throat, her short fingernails scraping against his armor as her back arched. To be wanted: it was something she'd always longed for but never really thought she'd have, not like this. And she wanted him with a fervor that went beyond lucid thought and conscious admission. 'Just once more, before I say goodbye. Oh, how can I say goodbye?'

Taking the opportunity presented to him, Sesshomaru wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her unresisting form up with him as he stood. Now that the matter of her departure had been settled, they could move on to more enjoyable pursuits. He could take her to a spring, but then again, this clearing was secluded enough for his purpose. Uncharacteristically impatient, he briefly considered bending her over the lip of the well, but thought better of it. Couldn't have her falling in by accident, absolutely not. More precious than his own life's blood, she was his and he _had to have her_. _Now_.

Leaving the lonely yellow bag sitting in the grass, Sesshomaru took several quick steps toward the border of the forest, eager to rid himself of the armor that had become tight and confining. Kagome seemed to agree as she was tugging on the leather straps that held it together. Setting her on her feet, he moved back just enough to shrug out of the hard plates and spikes that made up his protection, and then gathered her against him once more, nudging her head back with his nose until the creamy expanse of her throat was bared. Tracing each scar with his tongue, he lost himself in the taste of her flesh and the prickling of her power as her fingers wriggled between the folds of his clothes to trace whorls of heat across his chest. Claws snagged against cotton as he trailed his fingers down her back, cupping her bottom in a firm squeeze before lifting the hem of her skirt. Her knee bent of its own accord, lifting her calf to wrap around his leg, and his fingers slid up her bare thigh, plucking at her underwear. With a quick flick of a claw, he'd sliced them at the hip, earning him a guttural moan and a flood of uncontained warmth.

XXX

"KAGOME!" A heartbroken cry rent the air from high above and Kagome blinked rapidly as reality swept over her. A red blur was rapidly descending through the twilight, too small to for her to see his face but woefully recognizable nonetheless. The chest against her rumbled a warning, and her lover pulled out of her, the fangs easing from her neck leaving an emptiness almost as sore as the one in her womb.

Sesshomaru tucked himself away, still turgid and eager despite the rapidly approaching interruption. Of all the times for his idiot half-brother to disturb him, this had to be the least welcome. An almost irrational rage percolated through his gut that another male would smell his female's most intimate scents; no matter that she was still clothed or that said male had traveled with her for years. She belonged to him, Sesshomaru, and no one could take what was his.

'Shit!' Kagome swore silently, smoothing her hair with her fingers and making sure her skirt was on straight. Not like it would hide anything: she was sticky and sweaty and flushed and…her panties were on the ground in a small pile of torn pink satin. She aimed a swift kick at them, sending them fluttering toward the brush and hopefully out of sight. Maybe Inuyasha just thought they were necking? Was that Kikyou on his back? 'Shit!'

Inuyasha landed with a thump, dumping Kikyou from his back and drawing Tetsusaiga in one smooth motion. Snarling, his eyes darted between his half-brother and the miko. He'd heard her scream, smelled semen and blood, and assumed the worst. So why was she just standing there behind him? He couldn't think straight but he knew one thing: he wanted blood. "Get the hell away from Kagome, you sick fuck."

"You are in no position to give orders, half-breed," Sesshomaru stated as he stepped in front of Kagome and flexed his claws, willing energy to the tips of his fingers since his swords had joined his armor in a heap. Besides, it would serve him well to fight the impudent fool with his claws; his blood was still high and singing for excitement.

Bellowing, Inuyasha lunged and slashed down with Tetsusaiga. "Get back, Kagome. I'm gonna slice this bastard apart!"

"Take care not to cut yourself," Sesshomaru taunted mockingly, easily deflecting the blow with a snap of his energy whip and remaining positioned between the hanyou and miko. 'So, the idiot still wants her, even though he carries the other one with him. He needs to learn when he has lost.'

Kagome had had enough of male posturing and darted away from brawl, trying to ignore her air-conditioned backside. She gave a violent tug on the thread of connection with Sesshomaru, relieved when he stumbled slightly and turned to glare at her, and then shouted, "Osuwari!" Now two pairs of eyes were fixed on her, fury evident in the swirling of their golden pools. "Stop it!"

Sesshomaru had been ravishing her; didn't she need him to rescue her? What was wrong with her? She couldn't possibly have wanted it! "But that asshole was-" Inuyasha started, bewilderment and hurt in his voice.

"He didn't hurt me, Inuyasha."

"I can smell…_him…_ all over you! He forced you-"

"He didn't rape me, either," Kagome sighed. "Inuyasha-" She was cut off by a wail so brutal and lonely that it pierced her heart. She had wanted so badly to avoid all of this; why had she let Sesshomaru distract her? Was she so wanton that she couldn't say no to his advances?

Kikyou walked over to the hanyou, picking his limp form out of the dirt by his forearm. His head hung, the unruly fringe of his bangs hiding his eyes. She whispered quietly to him and he shook his head slowly. "How could you do this to me?" he asked finally, his voice broken and resentful, still slumped where he sat, leaning slightly against her.

Kagome met the cold stare of the other woman and felt her own anger threatening to burst free. "Why are you even asking me that? After all the times you snuck away to _her_? Do you think I wouldn't notice?"

His head snapped up, defensiveness slamming into place, "That's different, stupid! I've never rutted with her!"

Color rose in her cheeks, but she refused to be embarrassed into silence. "Inuyasha, you stole the jewel and left me!"

"His scent was on you when I took it; is that what you were doing that night, too?"

"No! We were just-"

"I took the fucking jewel to get my body back so that I could kick his miserable ass out of our life!" he flung a finger in the direction of the taiyoukai who was watching the exchange with an air of boredom.

Stunned speechless, Kagome dropped her gaze, the flutter of hope she'd expected to feel at his words noticeably absent. Was it true that he hadn't chosen Kikyou over her? If that were the case, then why hadn't he taken the time to explain himself instead of just disappearing, not to mention poisoning her almost fatally? Regardless, she couldn't help but feel at fault for his pain; she'd moved on and left him behind, the action so natural that she'd almost missed seeing it. But where did that leave her? No longer in love with a hanyou and unwilling to love a youkai who didn't love her back. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, knowing that it was poor consolation. "I didn't mean for it to happen."

Inuyasha jumped to his feet, his hands clenched into fists as he glowered at her. "Are you saying it was an accident? He tripped and fell in your-"

"Osuwari!" she lashed out before she could stop herself, cringing when his impact left a crater in the earth but frustrated beyond niceties. "You don't love me, Inuyasha. Whenever you look at me, you see her. I'll never be as beautiful or powerful as Kikyou. I'll be your second choice, the one you _settle_ for.

"And you, Sesshomaru," she pointed an accusing finger at the demon lord. "What am I to you, another Tetsusaiga to take from Inuyasha? Show him who's best?"

He stared at her blankly, her words hitting him like pebbles breaking the surface of a pond, little ripples of emotion flickering across his face and then disappearing as if they were never there. He wanted to yell back at her, shake her, anything to make her believe that what she said wasn't true, but he didn't. His youkai raged and clawed at his mind, but he pushed it down. His mask was fixed in place by centuries of tight control and he would let no miko or blood beast break it.

Kagome watched as Kikyou whispered to Inuyasha again, the hanyou narrowing a calculating stare at his half-brother. She didn't like the conspiratorial hunch of Kikyou's shoulders, nor the hanyou's pinned ears, reminding her of a dog ready to attack. Worse was Sesshomaru's silence and leaden gaze, the thrum of tension and hurt along their slender link. Feeling weary suddenly, a heaviness weighing in her bones, her shoulders slumped and she hugged her arms to her body. "You know what? Screw you guys, I'm going home."

Head down, she walked to the well and lifted her yellow backpack by its straps. She had one leg over the edge of the well when she heard a laugh; a wicked, familiar laugh that echoed off the dirt walls and into her mind like a half-forgotten nightmare. The fine hairs on the back of her neck prickled and she bent to stare intently into the well, dread knotting in her stomach as the gathering shadows seemed to seethe and flicker with a shimmering, solemn blue light. Never before had it felt so sinister, like an oubliette hiding faceless horrors instead of the gate to a time slip she knew it to be. Chewing on her bottom lip, frustrated with the deepening gloom of night that further obscured her vision, she regarded the unwholesome glow with trepidation. 'Why is the time slip active? It usually isn't visible unless someone is in it.'

A vicious, snarling roar and the ring of metal striking something hard broke through her contemplations and she glanced over her shoulder. Inuyasha had attacked Sesshomaru again and was swinging Tetsusaiga on a back blow that Sesshomaru batted away with claws glowing green with poison, knocking the hanyou back several feet to land in the dirt. Spinning in place and fixing furious, reddening eyes on her, Sesshomaru lunged toward her.

Reflexively, Kagome squeaked and flinched back, almost losing her seat on the edge of the well. 'Oooh, is he mad at me,' she thought, dismay liquefying her insides. She'd seen him irritated with her, of course, and she'd seen him angry, but he'd never directed such unbridled wrath in her direction. 'Does he want me to stay that badly?' she barely had time to wonder before Inuyasha was on his feet and rushing at the taiyoukai, screaming unintelligibly and slashing with Tetsusaiga.

'I can't leave when they're fighting like this. They'll kill each other!' Kagome started to swing her leg back over the edge of the well when something latched onto her ankle. Squealing, she dropped her bag in the grass and kicked at the clammy thing. Her shoe slipped off as it lost its grip but another was there to take its place, wrapping tightly around her calf. Breath sticking in her throat, Kagome stared hard into the undulating darkness that had swallowed her leg; she couldn't see the thing that had caught her but as it pulsed and slid up her leg, the males' fight was forgotten in the mind-numbing panic that gripped her. Imagining she could see a tangle of writhing tentacles and spider legs at the bottom of the well, she made a frantic dive for the ground. Just as she knew they would, more tentacles reached out of the well, wrapping around her thigh and waist, dragging her inexorably toward their center.

"SESSHOMARU!" she screamed wildly, reaching for him as he turned to her, his eyes scarlet, his markings vivid against his pale skin. Inuyasha howled and renewed his attacks with reckless abandon, forcing the taiyoukai to defend himself from the rain of blows.

"Now she's on _your_ side, huh? Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha slammed Tetsusaiga into the ground, sending jagged bolts of energy at the dog demon and Sesshomaru leapt into the sky to dodge the blast. It was just as Kikyou had said: his brother wouldn't stop tormenting him until his spirit was broken and when he couldn't take his sword, he'd taken the only other thing that mattered to him: Kagome. No matter what she or Kikyou said, she hadn't gone willingly. Once the bastard was dead, she'd be his again.

The tip of a tentacle slithered around Kagome's neck and squeezed, effectively cutting off her air and rendering her silent. Another wrapped around one forearm, wrenching her backward, and she lost her balance, her body falling until she caught herself with her free hand. Digging short nails into the lip of the well under her, Kagome clung to the wood as bright spots sparkled in front of her eyes. Inuyasha was lost behind the blaze of the windscar, Sesshomaru was just another dancing light in the sky, and Kagome wheezed desperately, hot tears trickling down her cheeks as the tentacles bunched and pulled.

Through the gray that was seeping over her vision, a white hakama suddenly blotted out the distant stars that, until now, had been the only witness to Kagome's plight. Kikyou stared down at her, brown eyes sad and regretful, and placed her hands over Kagome's straining fingers. Kagome met her gaze, mutely pleading for help.

"I'm so sorry, Kagome, that it had to end this way, but you don't belong here. There should only ever have been one of us at any given time." With strength belied by the slenderness of the digits, Kikyou began to pry Kagome's fingers loose of their grasp on the lip of the well.

'Don't do this, Kikyou!' Kagome screamed inside her head, gasping as the tentacles tugged on her legs and tightened around her throat. No one was coming to save her: the realization clogged her throat but strangely, the panic that had numbed her brain receded a little. No one was coming, but this wasn't that horrid, repeating nightmare! She could save herself! Reaching deep within herself to that place she tapped when charging a purifying an arrow, she said a silent prayer and…released.

Light streamed from her skin and the tentacles attached to her body dissolved almost instantly as an ear-splitting scream issued from the depths of the well. Kikyou let go of her hand to shield her eyes, stumbling backward a step before falling into the grass. Her hands suddenly free, Kagome grabbed the edge of the well with both and heaved herself onto her stomach, balancing half in, half out of the well. Panting harshly, Kagome felt the power within her pulse once and then diminish. As soon as she flopped over the edge and into the grass, more tentacles burst out of the well, too many to fit as the seams of the walls groaned and cracked. Flailing erratically, their suckered tips grasped at anything they touched and Kagome had to roll to the side, narrowly escaping them. The sound of splintering wood almost drowned out a terrified scream and Kagome barely had time to register a flash of red cloth before she sprang forward, reaching for a sandaled foot.

The already damaged wall gave way with a crunch under the pressure of Kikyou's body being pulled in two directions. Planting her feet in the dirt, Kagome held onto her ankle with all her might, but the force of the tentacles pulled her inexorably closer to the collapsing well. A white-clad arm wrapped around her chest, yanking her backward and out of reach of the fleshy tendrils and she screamed as the foot was dragged out of her grasp. Inuyasha blurred by, slashing at tentacles as he tried to reach the spot where Kikyou had disappeared, but she was gone: even her voice had been silenced.

A black, spiny leg shot out of the well, pointing toward the night sky before bending sharply and slamming into the ground.

"Kikyou!" Howling, Inuyasha cut it down with Tetsusaiga and was showered with sticky ichors that smoked and stank and clotted in his shining silver hair. The image of Kikyou being dragged into darkness burned into his retinas as he hacked further into the mass of writhing tentacles.

Coughing, Kagome tugged against the arm around her. "I have to seal it," she choked out, her voice raspy and throat sore. She could sense the hesitation and apprehension that hummed through the body at her back. Craning her neck, she tried to capture his attention. Crimson-eyed and snarling, he seemed only slightly less feral than his brother, but he locked gazes with her. "Sesshomaru, I have to seal it shut with that thing inside it!"

Growling, he held her tighter, the vise-like grip of his arm painful across her chest where it pressed against her breasts. The option of zapping him lightly to make him let go crossed her mind briefly but was discarded just as quickly as it was suicidal at worst and painfully unproductive at best and she certainly didn't need a raging, possessive inuyoukai dragging her away by her hair to teach her about pack dominance and obedience. 'You're babbling,' she told herself sternly. 'Do something before it pulls Inuyasha down too!'

'Dominance! That's it!' Kagome thought frantically and forced her body to go limp. 'Stop fighting,' she refused to use the word 'submit', 'and he'll calm down.' Just for good measure, she cuddled against his chest and bared the mark he'd just given her, earning a change in tone of the growl that somehow helped to steady her frenetically beating heart. "Please, Sesshomaru. I'm not going anywhere."

It was true; the well was on the brink of collapse and there was no way she was going to jump into it with all of those tentacles clogging the opening, even if she didn't have to seal it, and she knew in her bones that it had to be done. The creature was inside the time slip, holding it open, and she couldn't take the chance of it, or anything else, using the portal. Pushing the consequences of sealing it to the back of her mind to deal with later, she pleaded with her captor. "I promise."

He narrowed his eyes briefly and then nodded once. His grip slackened and before he could change his mind, she rushed toward the well, clearing her mind as she let her power flow to the surface of her skin. She didn't actually know how to seal the well so she'd have to wing it, as she'd done so many other times before. Sesshomaru was a reassuring presence at her back, dissolving tentacles with a flick of his whip if they strayed too close. Though vicious and bloodthirsty, they were hardly organized; their central brain must have been on the fritz.

"Inuyasha, get back!" she screamed at the hanyou, wincing at the abuse of her already tortured throat. Throwing himself at the monstrosity as he pummeled it with blows from Tetsusaiga and bleeding from several lacerations, he ignored her, redoubling his efforts with a wild yell. Another grotesque spider leg plunged though the middle of thrashing tentacles, impaling the hanyou through the shoulder and pinning him to the ground. 'At least he's no longer in danger of falling into the well,' Kagome thought distantly, numbly. She'd never seen him this bestial while still holding his sword. Was all of this for the death of Kikyou?

Dropping to her knees, she placed her hands palm down on the ground near the edge of well and closed her eyes, shutting out the sight of Sesshomaru's whip ripping through a tentacle above her head. With a deep breath, she let the power flow through her body and into the pit before her, searching for the key to it's destruction. The youki of the creature pulsed, recoiling from her purifying energy and Kagome gasped in understanding. How could she have been so stupid?

Finally, she found it: that kernel of magic that allowed one to travel through time. With a hard heart and whispered goodbye to her family, she surrounded it with her aura and squeezed until the magic shuddered, then popped. Underneath her, the ground quaked and groaned as darkness, soft as silk, enfolded her.

A/N: I hadn't intended to end the chapter here, but I've spent so much time tweaking it that I didn't get around to the next bits. Holler all you like, I probably deserve it.


	14. Bound and Determined

A/N: Lemon Alert! So, if you are over 17 and are so inclined, use the link on my profile to read the unedited version on MediaMiner. I think AFF is broken. Also, I've been sick all week, so there is a good chance that this chapter is has more grammar and spelling errors than usual. Hopefully, it doesn't suck, too.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 14 – Bound and Determined

"-you have to let us look at her!" An exasperated, concerned, feminine voice broke through the muffling oblivion in which she'd been floating. Irritated at the intrusion, Kagome groaned softly and buried her face in the source of heat that vibrated against the length of her body. Perched on his thigh with her head tucked under his chin, his arm and aura surrounding her curled body, she was so comfortable and warm. Couldn't they just leave her alone?

"Demon, ye will release her to our care!" Kaede rapped out, anger coloring her normally sedate voice.

Kagome blinked fully awake with a decidedly sinking feeling. 'Kaede doesn't sound happy, and she hardly ever raises her voice.' Squirming until she could brace herself against the hard plane of his unarmored chest, she turned her head and peeked from underneath eyelids that were gummy and itchy.

The red haze that had claimed his mind receded as the woman around whom Sesshomaru had wrapped himself stirred and snuggled closer. It had been many long years since his blood beast had escaped its cage. The last thing he could remember with a rational mind was the sight of Kagome seated on the well and her dejected words tumbling through the evening air: _I'm going home_. All of the carefully place stones, the thick, hard mortar he'd used to cement them in place, burst outward in a shower of sandy rubble and his youkai had taken the reins and leapt after her. The _other_ male, Inuyasha, he could now recall, though his youkai hadn't cared at the time, had attacked. Sesshomaru had fought him off with only one objective in mind: to prevent the departure of his female. Even her apparent change of mind had not eased the rage, though his youkai had taken immense satisfaction when she'd screamed his name, further angering his competition. Ha! She was his and she _knew_ it.

It had been several moments later when the scent of her terror had pierced the fog in his brain along with another scent that he both knew, and yet didn't. His opponent had also sensed it and while Sesshomaru had pulled his female from danger, the other male had turned his attentions on the creature in the well. How she had convinced him to let go of her again, he still wasn't sure, but he had, following her back into danger and protecting her while she'd glowed with the light of the sun, somehow collapsing the well and trapping youkai within. When the earth had finally settled, only a shallow crater was left and the scent and aura of the creature were gone.

He'd gathered his unconscious female to his body, pulling her away from the gore that stained the ground and into the forest, leaving the competition pissed and pinned to the ground by a spiny black insect leg. When the humans had shown up hours later, one of them an adult male and seemingly familiar with his female, he'd wanted to tear into them, but couldn't manage it without first letting go of her. He settled for leaping into the branches overhead and warning them away with bared teeth and fierce snarls, all of which they'd ignored. No matter: when she woke and he knew that she was unhurt, he would kill them for their insolence. She would probably be hungry, anyway.

Now that she _was _awake and his youkai blood had slunk back into its kennel, he remembered who they were and was feeling a little foolish to be caught growling in a tree, not to mention relieved that he hadn't slaughtered her friends and served them to her for dinner. Not that he would have mourned their passing; he could care less. However, Kagome would care quite a bit. It was unnerving to realize how much that mattered to him.

The old miko was yelling again and Kagome stirred against him, her hand inadvertently brushing his crotch and instantly sending an inundation of blood to the spot. Which reminded him: he'd only been warming up earlier and though he'd never mated in a tree before, he was feeling adventurous…

"I'm alright, Kaede!" Kagome called out, craning her neck to see over the over the wall of white silk to her surroundings. "Eep!" her stomach lurched alarmingly when she realized that the taiyoukai was crouched on a branch several yards over the ground. She needn't have worried; Sesshomaru's arm held her fast in his lap and she was in no danger of falling.

"Oh, Kagome, thank Kami you're okay!" Sango shouted up, sagging slightly against Miroku. There had been so much carnage around where the well had once stood: bits of tentacle, ichors seeping into the ground, long ruts that bore witness to the use of the windscar, and Inuyasha, cursing and tugging at what seemed to be a giant spider's leg impaling his shoulder and fixing him to the earth.

She had been irritated when Inuyasha had suddenly increased their pace toward Kaede' village, quickly outdistancing them, and she hadn't felt inclined to push Kirara to follow. Regretting that decision as they'd descended on the remnants of a fierce battle, she and Miroku had leapt from Kirara's back before the firecat had landed and rushed to the hanyou's aide. Once freed, he'd cast a dark, angry look into the woods and then bounded off in the opposite direction, refusing to answer any of their questions. Sango had wanted to follow him but was held back by Miroku, who had given her a quiet shake of the head.

"_Let him go. Perhaps he needs some time to think. It is too dark to follow, anyhow."_

"_But Miroku, the well has been destroyed! We don't know where Kagome is! Or Kikyou, for that matter." The monk had sent her a resigned look that had hinted at knowledge he wasn't sharing. Narrowing her eyes, Sango had scowled back; she wasn't in the mood to play games. "What is it, monk?"_

"_I do not think the Lady Kagome is far away, and I doubt she is alone," he'd said finally, holding up a hand to stop her interruption. "Let us find Kaede and try to make sense of this…" his eyes had strayed to the splintered boards and ravaged, smoking earth._

Sango was broken out of her brief reverie as the monk's hand slipped down her back. 'Well,' she thought sarcastically, 'things can't be that bad if he's already trying to cop a feel.' With a quick step to the side, she left the monk's comforting support and groping hands to stand on her own.

"Sesshomaru, can we go down now?" Kagome twisted to look up into his impassive, beautiful face. The pale light of the moon backlit his hair, creating a nimbus of shimmering silver around his head and almost obscuring his features in shadow. Golden eyes burned with a light of their own as they watched her, fathomless and intoxicating. 'Focus, girl.'

Truth be told, he was not inclined to leave the tree, at least not to join her friends. His loss of control was too fresh, and these humans had been a witness to it. Besides, both the rational and instinctual parts of him wanted to take Kagome and find someplace with more private. Tightening his arm, he shifted their weight to spring but paused when Kagome cuddled closer and bared his mark.

"My friends are worried; I need to talk to them," she said into the folds of his haori, relieved when his muscles relaxed again. She wasn't crazy about manipulating him like this, for that exactly what it felt like she was doing, but she knew from experience that arguing with him did no good and she had no subduing spell to use against him. Not that the spell had been very effective, either.

"Very well," he intoned, the boredom in his voice conveying the huge favor he was granting her, and dropped silently to the ground. Setting her on her feet and taking a step backward, he regarded the other humans with a disdainful eye, daring them to say anything about his previous behavior.

Sango was the first to approach, warily, with one eye on the taiyoukai, then drew Kagome into a rough, brief hug. Holding the girl out at arm's length, she asked, "Kagome, what happened? The well is…gone. There's nothing left."

Kagome had known it would be destroyed when she'd made the decision to seal it, but hadn't allowed herself the time to really think about what that meant to her. Never again would she see her mother, Souta, Grandfather, or Buyo. She would never finish her correspondence classes or go to a university for an advanced degree. She would never see the sequel to Underworld when it came to theaters in Japan, munching popcorn and Red Vines while slurping down a cold Pepsi. She would never get Shippo strawberry-flavored instant oatmeal or replenish his supply of candy. The four remaining pairs of panties in her bag were the last she would ever have, and if Sesshomaru hid or destroyed any more of them, she would tan his hide. A hysterical giggle bubbled out of her throat and she tried desperately to smother it with a hand firmly clamped over her mouth. The result was a strangled, desperate sound and Sango gave her a helpless look.

A steady flow of reassurance fed to her through the link to Sesshomaru and gratefully, she clung to it without questioning the how or why. 'No use crying over spilled milk,' she told herself firmly, because she knew that if she started crying, she wouldn't be able to stop. 'Look to the future; what's done is done.'

"I'll explain in a minute. Where's Inuyasha?" she asked when she'd found her voice and was sure that it wouldn't crack. Though glad that she didn't have to face him at the moment, as her fragilely maintained composure would surely have broken under the strain of his bitterness, she was afraid that he'd been sealed in the well along with Kikyou's body and the creature.

"He's gone, too." Sango was quick to clarify when her friend's face began to crumple, "He ran off after we pulled the…thing…out of his shoulder." Belatedly, Sango realized the news of Inuyasha leaving could hardly be welcome, but had to be better than the hanyou being killed by whatever had destroyed the well.

Kagome only nodded, oddly numb and somehow not surprised. Kikyou was gone for good and she, Kagome, had been screwing his detested half-brother. He had trusted her in his way and she could imagine that he saw her actions as the highest form of betrayal, never mind the many times he had betrayed her. What reason would he have to stay? Friendship? She doubted that he would ever call her friend after this. Her heart ached for her first love who she hadn't been able to heal. She'd wished so hard for his happiness, prayed that he would find it with her. Swallowing down the lump that had formed in her throat, Kagome gave Sango a watery smile.

"He'll be back, eventually." At taijiya's puzzled stare, Kagome shrugged, "He's still wearing the rosary."

Sesshomaru suppressed a flash of irritation at her remark, aware that his youkai viewed the hanyou as competition. It was ridiculous, really, to think that a wretched half-breed could be considered as such because it implied equality. However, he could not ignore the ranting of his beast and decided that the best solution was to make sure his claim was indisputable.

"It is late and the young ones are worried. I think it best if we retire to my home and discuss the events of this evening under a roof," Kaede gestured for the rest to follow her but stopped when Kagome shook her head.

"I have to purify anything that's left of the body."

"What kind of demon was it, Kagome? The mess it left was unrecognizable," Sango asked, grimacing as she pictured the bits of tentacle and pools of sticky, stinking fluid.

"It was Naraku…kind of."

"Kagome, Naraku is dead. We – _you_ – killed him. Remember?" Sango gave her friend a scrutinizing look and wondered if she'd bumped her head.

Sighing and pursing her lips, Kagome tried to organize her thoughts and the revelation she'd had as she'd sealed the well. "Yes, we killed him, but we didn't destroy all of his body. Maybe he cast a bit away when he knew he was dying, maybe a part of him just fell off and was hidden in the grass…"

_…Brown grasses trampled by her body as tentacles pulled her toward gleaming red eyes…_

Kagome shook herself out of the memory of her recurring nightmare she now knew had been something more. Little of its previous owner's cunning had remained; the creature that had camped out in the well, intertwining itself with the magic of the time slip and waiting for her and the jewel to deliver themselves into its grasp, had been no more than a pale shadow of its former self. Haltingly, Kagome tried to describe her nightmares and their similarity to the horror in the well.

Miroku regarded the young miko with a thoughtful frown, "Naraku possessed and used the tainted jewel far longer than any other demon. Since his body was nothing more than a conglomeration of lesser demons, it is possible that a piece of him survived and still hungered for the power of the jewel."

"Then why would he hide in the well instead of coming after the jewel directly?"

"I doubt we will ever know for sure, Kagome. Now that the jewel has returned to your body, he may not have been able to sense it clearly. If he was able to invade your dreams, perhaps he was also able to see how you traveled between worlds and decided that that would be the time you were most vulnerable."

Kagome pursed her lips, not quite satisfied with Miroku's reasoning. "I don't know…this creature wasn't that smart. It was if it was driven by instinct, not reason."

Finally, Kaede spoke, "Ye did not tell me that ye had swallowed the jewel."

"I, uh, didn't think it was that important," Kagome fidgeted uncomfortably. How did Kaede make her feel like a fractious teenager with just a few words and a stern look? It wasn't fair. Brow furrowing, Kaede said nothing, which was even worse than the disappointment in her voice. "I was born with it, after all."

"Aye, you were born with it, whole, in your body. Consuming it, as you have…" Kaede trailed off as the implications tumbled around her mind. Silently, she appraised the youkai and miko standing side-by-side.

"She has absorbed it," Sesshomaru spoke for the first time since leaving the tree, "and is no longer human."

Stunned silence met his proclamation until Kagome elbowed him sharply in the ribs. "And when were you planning to tell me?" Sesshomaru raised a dark eyebrow, partly at her audacity and partly in surprise that she had not yet figured it out for herself. Truly, humans, even former humans, were out of touch with their bodies.

Kagome huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. She'd known that she'd absorbed it; he'd said as much right after she'd swallowed it. But what did he mean by not being human? Was she demon? Some kind of mutant freak? She fervently hoped that she would not end up donning a pink spandex costume and go by the name of SuperMiko. 'No capes,' she thought. 'Capes only get you killed.'

"Regardless," Miroku broke in, hoping to forestall the argument he sensed brewing, "If what you say about the creature is true, then we should purify the remains as soon as possible. Kaede, perhaps you could assure the children that all is well while we take care of the demon?"

The old miko nodded and lumbered away as the rest of the group turned and made it's way back to the field and the remnants of the Bone Eater's Well.

XxxxxxxxX

Huddled under a blanket in Kaede's hut, a cup of hot tea in her hand, Kagome sniffled and tried not to think of the scarred earth that had once been her way home. Hell, Inuyasha had left deeper craters after being subdued. Purifying the bits and pieces of the demon had not been near as horrible as shifting through the splintered boards of the well to retrieve her backpack. Tears built at the backs of her eyes, threatening to fall at the slightest provocation, but she blinked them back resolutely. Crying wouldn't help her.

"What do you plan to do now?" Sango asked quietly, blowing the steam from her cup and watching as the curls dissipated into formless fog. The adults sat together on one side of the hut, trying not to wake the two children who slumbered on the other side. Sesshomaru leaned elegantly against a wall, a small wrinkle in his nose signifying his disgust with his surroundings, a wrinkle that Kagome chose to ignore.

"I don't know, I haven't really thought about it much." Setting the cup on the floor, Kagome propped her chin in her hand and stared into the flames. Actually, she'd given it a lot of thought, but not under the current terms. They'd been more like daydreams of her and Inuyasha living out their days in the village raising little silver-haired, dog-eared babies, but then everything had changed. The dream, always far-fetched, had been shattered with his apparent defection to Kikyou and now he wasn't even the one whose touch she craved.

She didn't even know exactly how she felt about the well closing. In a way, her life in the modern era seemed less real to her than her than the one in the feudal era. Though she'd always been disappointed that she hadn't graduated with honors (or good attendance), it had never bothered her as much as had her failures in the feudal era. It was as if she'd simply closed a chapter in her life that was no longer needed. Certainly, she missed her family with a bruising ache, but it wasn't the incapacitating grief that she'd experienced when she'd decided to go home for good. Her family was alive and well and would certainly understand what had happened when they saw the well sealed for good. They had all been aware of the possible consequences of her time travel. She just hoped that her disappearance didn't hurt them too deeply, but she also knew her mother trusted her and her decisions.

Kagome frowned as she backtracked in her thinking. If she had closed the well in the feudal era, how was she able to go through it in the modern era when she was fifteen? Would it open sometime in the future or would _she_ have to reopen it? Had she just changed the course of history? Were the past and present connected in a way that she never before guessed? The two timelines did seem to move in parallel; after all, a week spent in the feudal era was a week spent away from modern Japan. Kagome rubbed her temples with her fingers, willing away the headache that was rapidly forming. She would just have to puzzle about that later. What was done was done and she couldn't undo it.

"Maybe I'll finish my miko training with Kaede-"

"You are accompanying this Sesshomaru to the West," Sesshomaru stated in a manner that brooked no argument, which did not stop Kagome.

"Excuse me?" Kagome snapped in a hushed voice, irritated by his arrogant tone even as her stomach fluttered and her heart leapt into her throat. "Don't I get a choice in this?"

To her surprise, it was Kaede who spoke. "I think, child, that ye have already made your choice."

"What?"

"He has marked ye in the youkai way and ye have joined, have ye not?" Kaede fixed the girl with a solemn eye over the rim of her bamboo drinking vessel.

'I have not had sexual relations with that demon!' Kagome wanted to deny, but settled for blushing and an embarrassed "Um," and tried to ignore Sango's sudden coughing fit. "But he said it wasn't permanent-"

Kaede raised a quelling hand and Kagome subsided. "And ye have bound him to ye."

"Um," Kagome said again, wondering what had happened to her vocabulary. "No I haven't."

Miroku cut in softly, "Kaede, what you are implying-"

"Tell me you do not sense it, monk," the old woman raised a bushy, disbelieving eyebrow.

Opening his mouth do just that, Miroku shut it again and concentrated on Kagome's aura. Sure enough, tendrils of her pink aura were touching that of the demon's red youki. As he watched with his inner eye, her aura pulsed subtly, reaching out and stroking the other aura that in turn flared softly and welcomed it. "Ah. I see."

"It be Shikon magic, which was created by Midoriko to bind the souls of demons within her own soul. Ye have taken in those demon souls trapped by Midoriko, as well as the miko's soul, and made them part of yourself. As she bound those demons, so you have bound your youkai, though in a different way."

"And why didn't you mention this before I tried to leave?" Kagome hissed, bewildered and anxious. 'Sesshomaru isn't going to like this.'

"It was much fainter when I saw ye earlier; I thought that perhaps I had imagined it. Had you gone home as you had planned, it may have been broken. However, I doubt anything could accomplish that now."

Sesshomaru stifled a growl at the reminder of his female's disobedience and attempt at leaving him. He did not necessarily like the fact that _she_ had bound _him_, as it was the male's prerogative to mark the female. On the other hand, it cleared up the possible problem of not being able to mark her properly as his mate. As one of the most powerful youkai in Japan, there was no doubt in his mind that he could reciprocate the binding spell and tie her to him.

'What then?' he wondered. 'Will I be challenged for bringing a seeming human to my bed, as had my father before me? Will I sire hanyou pups?' However, Kagome was neither weak nor truly human as Izayoi had been. If worse came to worse and Kagome produced hanyous unfit to rule the West, then a youkai breeding bitch could be brought in to continue his line, but he seriously doubted it would come to that. Hanyou or not, no son of his would be unfit for anything.

"Oh. So, why would it be stronger now?" Kagome felt a little afraid to ask but had to know.

Kaede raised an eyebrow. "If it works as I suspect it does, the bond is reinforced when the two auras _combine_," she put emphasis on that last word, hoping to convey her meaning without having to draw the girl a picture.

"_Oh_." Kagome blushed furiously, now knowing that the old miko had a good idea of what she'd been up to on her way to the well. From Miroku's quirky smile, she guessed that'd he'd figured it out, as well. What was more worrying was Sesshomaru's reaction; his expression had not changed and she was getting no strong emotional feedback through their link, but she did not think he would welcome being tied to her. He had meant the scent-mark to be temporary; he'd made it clear when he'd told that she was a part of his pack. Now he was stuck with her, an addle-brained girl who couldn't control her own powers. "Oh, Kami."

She was pulled to her feet by a hand wrapped around her forearm. Waving off the protests of her friends as she was dragged back out into the night, she put 'learning to make subduing spells' at the top of her To-Do List.

"You know," she tugged on her arm as he walked her through the village and into the outskirts of the forest, "a simple, 'Kagome, could I speak to you a moment in private' would suffice." She finally succeeded in freeing her arm, sure that it was only because he had chosen to let go. Fuming, she glared up at him, but her ire evaporated at the wounded light in the backs of his eyes.

"You do not wish to be bound to this Sesshomaru?" his eyes bore down on her and Kagome felt a strange agitation prickling along her skin.

"What? Aren't you angry that I-?"

"You belong to me. It is fitting. And you did not answer my question."

Why does he want to know so badly? Kagome searched his simmering golden pools for some sign of what he was thinking and then cursed herself for her stupidity. What good was having a bond with a guy if you don't use it? Actively seeking the thread of connection, she was surprised to notice that many threads now stretched from her to the demon lord. Along them, determination and apprehension hummed as the silence grew between them. She didn't dare let herself hope about what that could mean.

"You didn't answer mine, either," she reminded him softly.

For a long moment, he had no idea what she was talking about. He had just answered her question more than graciously, especially considering how she'd overstepped herself by binding him, intentionally or not. Had any other female attempted such a thing, he would not have hesitated before sinking his claws into her entrails. To think that she might not want him as badly as he wanted her was disconcerting, causing an unfamiliar pain to blossom in his chest. As he regarded her impassively, he felt her begin to pull away, sadness and disappointment cooling the tendrils of her aura that caressed his own. He thought harder, disliking her upset and the knowledge that he was the one causing it. 'Ah. _That_ question.'

"You are not just another Tetsusaiga to me," he said finally, willing her to understand what he would not admit aloud.

It was no grand declaration of love, but it was also not the resounding rejection Kagome had expected. 'Take what you can get, isn't that your motto now?' It had seemed like a good idea at the time, though she was getting something different than she'd bargained for. Despite the pompous ass, she found that she really didn't mind belonging to him, though _she _had bound _him_, which meant that he also belonged to her. He wanted her for who she was, not who she had been in another life. Maybe it was enough to give it a chance. If things didn't work out, well, she would solve that problem if it came to that. Besides, he had a _nice_ ass.

"Then I guess I don't mind having you bound to me," Kagome said, grinning slightly as she reminded him who, exactly, had done the binding.

Sesshomaru felt her come to her decision and released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He knew from the warm, steady thrum of their bond that it was a decision he could accept. Not that she had much choice in the matter; he'd already made up his mind but her compliance only made things easier.

A snatch of memory drifted through his brain: his father, long after his mother had died and years before meeting Izayoi, drunk on sake and victorious battle, imparting wisdom on the acquiring of heirs. His father had been badgering him, as he'd been wont to do when both of their lives were in moderate danger, about continuing the bloodline.

_Grinning widely as he'd lounged against the silk cushions piled in his war tent, he'd fixed his only son with a glittering golden eye. _

"_First, you must find a female." His father had given him a conspiratorial wink as if this had been a closely guarded secret and had taken a pull from the bottle in his hand. "Then, you impregnate her! Ha!" The Great Dog had laughed uproariously at his own joke. Sesshomaru had made a mental note to never drink sake in large quantities._

Well, he had accomplished the first step. Now, on with the second. "Come. We have unfinished business that requires our attention."

"What?"

"We were interrupted earlier."

Kagome gave him a long stare. "_What?_"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, irritated by her intentional (at least in his not-so-humble opinion) obtuseness. Pitching his tone to a level she could not confuse, he growled and tugged lightly on their bond.

'Oh, _that_.' Kagome frowned at him, unconsciously squeezing her thighs together to relieve a little of the pressure that had built between them. "How can you think about that at a time like this?"

Taking a moment to reflect, Sesshomaru briefly mulled over her question. He had been thinking about sex a lot more than usual. Though he had certainly not lived a celibate life, he had never been one inclined to rut with anything that moved, as had several of his generals. The surge in his libido was not unwelcome and he had a suspicion that it had something to do with his partner. Not one to look a gift miko in the mouth (there were better things to do with said miko, after all), he decided, along with his nether regions, that there was no time like the present. He growled again, leaning into her and lowering his eyelids in that way he knew she could not resist.

"Umm…" Kagome suddenly found it difficult to breathe and knew she had lost this battle before she'd even begun to fight. "Maybe we could find someplace indoors…with a little privacy…"

His lips descended on hers, bruising them with the force of his kiss as he pressed her lips apart and filled her mouth with his tongue.

XxxxxxxX

Sango cleared her throat and glanced at the mat that coved the hut's only entrance. "Should we go make sure she's okay?"

"No, I don't think that's a very wise idea," Miroku said as he settled his back against the wall of the hut, somehow making an innocuous statement sound lecherous.

Scowling, Sango took the bait. "And why is that, monk?"

Shrugging, he winked at Kaede, who only rolled her eyes and poured him another cup of tea. "You saw how he was when Kagome was unconscious. He won't let anything bad happen to her."

"I think your definition of bad and my definition of bad differ greatly, pervert."

"Oh, come now, Sango. Whether we like it or not, he's mated her, and youkai treasure their mates above all else."

Sango sighed and swirled the dregs of the tea at the bottom of her cup. "As long as she's happy."

Chuckling, Kaede took her cup and refilled it. "Though she may have bound him unconsciously, she would not have done it had she not, on some level, wanted to. Worry not for Kagome, child."

A/N: Insert Lemon here. I'm seriously debating on whether I want to wrap this fic up with an epilogue and start a sequel or simply write the epilogue leave some things unresolved. What do you guys think?


	15. Epilogue

A/N: I just realized that QuickEdit messed up some of my formatting. Great.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Epilogue

Silver hair drifted in the breeze, tousled unceremoniously as an errant current of air zipped through the higher branches of Goshinbuko. If he squinted hard and stared out of the corner of his eye, he could almost imagine that the well was still whole and that any minute, a yellow backpack would tumble over the wooden ledge, followed by a dark head and expressive brown eyes. Small, triangular ears tensed and quivering, the hanyou held himself still, eyes watering as he concentrated on the shallow crater, as if by sheer will alone, the image in his head would manifest as reality.

She would pull herself over the lip, smooth her skirt with long, nimble fingers, then glance up to his perch, her smile reminding him why the sun rose in the morning.

_"Inuyasha!"_

"Stupid girl, you're late."

Arms akimbo, she would glare up at him, sweet lips puckering in a delicious pout. _"Don't call me stupid, dog-boy."_

"Keh. Whatever."

_"Well if that's how you're going to greet me, maybe I'll just go back home!"_

"As if I care, wench." But he did care, so much that a hollow pit had formed in his stomach and ached almost incessantly. He would have gladly welcomed Sesshomaru's poisoned fist through his gut if only he would return Kagome to him.

"_Fine!_" Her dark eyes would cloud with hurt and he cursed himself for causing her pain yet again, instead of telling her that she held his heart and soul in her gentle hands.

"Inuyasha," a masculine voice called up and Inuyasha jumped, his fragile hold on the vision of Kagome evaporating like a wisp of steam. "It's not healthy to sit in trees and talk to people who aren't there."

"Mind your own fucking business, monk," Inuyasha growled, turning his back on the monk's upturned face and scowling over the top of the forest. A heavy sigh drifted up, followed by the quiet chime of metal rings and a soft rustle of fabric.

"Will you at least come down for dinner?"

When had he last eaten? He couldn't remember clearly, hardly cared.

"Quit feeling for yourself and rejoin the living! You act as if she died."

Dropping out of the tree in a flash of red and silver, Inuyasha was on the monk almost before his feet hit the ground, grabbing him by the throat and holding him suspended as he snarled in his face. "She _is_ dead to me! She betrayed me and killed Kikyou!"

"Don't be a fool, Inuyasha. And if you really believed that nonsense, then you wouldn't sit in this tree holding conversations with her," through his constricted throat, the monk spoke calmly and patiently, as if explaining something simple to a small child.

The will to fight drained out of him and he slowly set the monk back on his feet, shoulders slumping slightly. Miroku was right, of course. He didn't believe that Kagome had killed Kikyou; if anything, the blame rested on him. Never having been one to speak his true feelings on emotional topics, he lashed out instinctively, often injuring the ones closest to his heart. Kagome had borne the brunt of his defensiveness, perhaps not always graciously but forgiving him nonetheless. If only he'd been able to tell her how he truly felt, had called her 'beloved' instead of 'idiot' and 'beautiful' instead of 'pathetic'. Then maybe…

Miroku rubbed the bruise out of his throat and fixed his friend with a sympathetic eye. "She tried to save Kikyou's life but the tentacles had too strong a hold on her." The monk didn't mention the part where Kikyou had tried to pry Kagome's fingers loose from the lip of the well and send her to her grave; that was her story to tell if she so chose. "Even alive, Kikyou was not the same woman she had been fifty-four years ago. You must have sensed that."

"I failed her again."

Miroku wasn't sure to which woman he was referring; perhaps he meant both. However, in the monk's mind, only one of the women really mattered. Only one woman plagued his friend with visits in waking dreams. "She loved you, you know. But women's hearts don't wait forever, especially if they think that you still love someone else."

Inuyasha was silent for a long moment, only the twitching of his silver ears showing that he was still aware of his surroundings. _She loved you…_ _think that you still love someone else…_ Did that mean she left with his brother because she thought he didn't love her? "If she loved me once, then she can love me again."

Miroku stared at his friend uneasily, not liking the determined light that flickered at the backs of his eyes. "Inuyasha, I must warn you against this line of thinking. It's too late; she has made her choice."

"Why are you on _his_ side?"

Miroku sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew that the hanyou was not stupid, but sometimes he had to wonder if the thickness of his skull was one of the great marvels of Japan. He hoped that they would not have to deal with years of hanyou-in-denial about Kagome's relationship with Sesshomaru, or worse yet, scrape pieces of him off of ground if he ever tried to win Kagome back. Sesshomaru would not take kindly to that, nor would Kagome, for that matter. "I am not on anyone's side, I am simply stating a fact."

"Keh. You all but handed her to him when my back was turned." Inuyasha winced inwardly at his own words but didn't retract his accusation.

Throwing up his hands, Miroku turned back to the path to the village. The hanyou was hopeless and he had a wife and dinner waiting for him. "Believe what you like, Inuyasha, but you are wrong. The invitation to dinner still stands." Miroku left him standing under the tree, glaring at the shallow crater that had once been the Bone Eater's Well.

Inuyasha glared at his retreating back until it disappeared into the forest, his shadow lengthening as the sun boiled and swelled and sank below the horizon. How many sunsets had he watched with Kagome, sitting in the cool grass surrounded by crickets' song and crane flies that lumbered clumsily through the twilight? Each sunset had been magical to her, and even if the sky were painted with the same palette of colors as the one previous, she would find something new and splendid, pointing it out to him in hushed whispers. After awhile, he'd come to appreciate the beauty she saw around her, but life seemed to be dull and gray once again. He now knew that it was she who breathed vigor into her surroundings and lent nature her inner light.

For months he'd wandered, trying to hate her for choosing his brother, hating himself for letting her leave. Thoughts of Kikyou had come and gone and he found himself wishing that he'd never called her name on Urusae's mountain. Things could have been so different if Kikyou hadn't been around to distract him. Despite his harsh words to the monk, he didn't miss her. He regretted that she had to die at the hands of Naraku yet again, and though he felt that he was to blame for not saving her, he couldn't work up the energy to feel guilty. She had manipulated him and betrayed him, tried to turn him against Kagome, his friends, even his brother (not that that would have taken much effort). He would never let anyone say a word against her, but in his heart, he knew those words were true. She had never compared to Kagome; he was a fool to not realize it until both women were out of his reach.

_She loved you_…the words tumbled through his brain as the last flares of the sun's rays kissed the tops of the trees. _She can love me again_. She couldn't truly love that cold-hearted bastard; she was confused, lost, like he was. If he could only just speak to her once more, put his pride to the side and tell her what she meant to him, wouldn't she accept him back? It would take time to prove to her that she was the only woman for him and that Kikyou had no claim on his heart, but Kagome was…Kagome. She would take him back and things would go back to the way they were. No, they would be better, because he would be free to love her as she deserved! His half-brother certainly didn't deserve her. The fucker was probably already bored and would be happy to get rid of her.

Cracking his knuckles, Inuyasha looked to the West, imagining the misery Kagome must be feeling at the hands of his half-brother. The monk was wrong; he would save her from her suffering, console her, let her apologize for leaving him, perhaps apologize to her for not coming to get her sooner. 'Yeah, I'll rescue her, just like old times. She'll be so happy to see me! She _needs_ me.' Still, he stood rooted to the spot, ignoring the green spots floating before his eyes, temporarily scorched there by the fire of the sunset.

XxxxxxxX

Kagome sighed happily and let her head fall back against the trunk of the cherry tree, relishing the warmth of the sunshine on her upturned face. It seemed like an age since she'd been outside and though she understood why everyone was so insistent that she stay in bed, she couldn't stand it any longer. Lack of vitamin D had to be detrimental to one's health, right? And since there were no pharmacies within reach, and therefore no vitamin supplements, she had to go outside once in a while!

She really hoped that all of the worry and fuss were for nothing; visibly pregnant and gaining weight quickly, she had long since passed the point where she'd lost the others. Though weak and unsteady on her feet (on those rare moments when she was allowed to walk on her own), she hadn't experienced any pain or spotting. She couldn't help but hope that they'd finally conquered the conflicting natures of miko and youkai and she would carry this one to term. Not that she wanted to test that theory, but she doubted that the stress of cabin fever could be any better for the fetus than being carried to the garden for a quiet nap in the sun.

A soft snore sounded from a nearby patch of wild strawberries and Kagome smiled softly, rubbing her belly in quiet thanks to her nurse and healer. Hana, an ancient horse youkai, was an expert at herbal remedies and potions. Large for a female with thick fingers and measured speech, she had brown eyes as gentle and kind as Jinengi's and Kagome had come to think of her as her personal savior.

Kagome had thought that nothing could compare to the heartbreak of Inuyasha leaving her until she'd been rocked by excruciating cramps and had bled the heir of the Western Lands into silk of her kimono. Sesshomaru had held her through her tears, his soft whispers soothing away the despair that had tried to strangle her, and had tried to refuse her to try again, but the alternative was unacceptable. As much as she loved Shippo and Rin, she did not like the idea of raising Sesshomaru's pup by another woman, not to mention the circumstances of the _conception_ of said pup. If he wanted an heir, then they would just have to figure out how to make it work.

Hana had quickly diagnosed the problem and had brewed a tincture made from the essence of a "Miko Eater" youkai to suppress her miko powers enough to not kill the fetus. Kagome was sure that Kaede would have had a fit, but after three miscarriages in the span of six months, she had been willing to try anything. Kagome had suspected that it might be her miko powers that were attacking and killing the fetus, much like an RH-negative mother's blood would attack her baby's RH-positive blood. Now that it seemed to be confirmed, Kagome felt guilty for the deaths of the others and overwhelming grateful that she was being given another chance.

Really, she felt luckier than she thought she deserved to be. After all of the strain and toil of travel and battle, she now had a relatively easy life. Kagome had not been sure what to expect of Sesshomaru's residence, but the ornate, rambling wooden structure on a flat outcropping of rock hundreds of feet up the face of a cliff hadn't been it. One of the wings was completely unoccupied and had been closed off; Sesshomaru had explained that his father had once held court, but after his mother's death, his father had begun to spend more time away and the house had been emptied to a skeleton crew. He had never had a reason to revive it.

Only reachable by air or a winding, narrow path carved into the cliff face, it was isolated and remote unless you were youkai. Kagome figured that was probably the point. The household staff was not large, consisting of a cook, a housekeeper, a gardener, and a handful of men-at-arms that actually lived in a village at the base of the cliff and took turns keeping loose watch over the household grounds. If needed, Sesshomaru could muster an army from allies scattered over his lands, but did not have any formal companies on standby.

Jaken presided over the domestic staff, so Kagome was not surprised to find that Sesshomaru's library was cluttered and chaotic. Until she had been bedridden, Kagome had made it her personal mission to organize it properly and take advantage of the opportunity to learn as much as she could. Though she'd never had any grand aspirations or career plans, she could not stand the idea of doing nothing constructive with her time. She'd even enlisted the help of Rin and Shippo, managing to sneak in a few lessons in the guise of letting Rin help her beloved Sesshomaru-sama clean up the library. Shippo, always eager to impress the girl, threw his being into the project with the fervor that he usually reserved for demonstrating a new illusion. Now, everyone was literate enough to start filing scrolls into a general order.

She must have dozed off because Sesshomaru had appeared next to her, his back against the tree and his arm draped around her shoulders, looking placid and bored as ever. Kagome knew better, however; a slight tightness at the corners of his mouth and an almost invisible wrinkle between his eyebrows spoke volumes.

"I trust I find you well," he said softly before she could ask what was bothering him, as he knew she would eventually. Though it was a little easier to hide things from her now that her miko powers were suppressed, she could still read his face in ways no other being could and their connection had only strengthened since she had bound him.

"Yes, we are," Kagome answered with a small grin as she snuggled closer to him and rested a hand on her swollen tummy.

He nodded once and waited: one…two…three…

"So, what's got you so uptight?"

Yes, he knew her well; in merely a blink of an eye compared to his own long life span, he'd come to know her like he knew himself and he wouldn't have it any other way. It was awkward at times such as these, when he did not want to upset her, especially when she was so fragile. Unfortunately, she would find out eventually and he wanted her to be prepared and on her guard. With a gentle nudge of her ear with his nose, he reclaimed his arm and pulled a small scroll from the folds of his kimono and handed it to her. He watched her face closely as she read, delight blossoming only to be chased away by alarm, then sadness.

"We both knew he probably wouldn't take it well," she sighed as she scanned the tidy kanji once more before re-rolling it and handing to him.

"The depth of his foolishness knows no bounds."

Kagome rolled her eyes and laced her fingers over her belly in an unconsciously protective manner. "Maybe he just needs to see us and talk to us to really believe that things will stay the way they are," Kagome said, though her voice was doubtful.

"I am posting a guard to the family wing of the house."

"But-"

"If he is doing his job well, you will not notice him."

"I'll know he's there! Don't you think you're overreacting?"

"You will not argue with your lord."

"In my time, marriages – matings– are equal partnerships," Kagome gave him a stern look with steady brown eyes, her brows furrowing as he met her stare without flinching.

"Indeed."

"Yes. You would ask me, 'Kagome, would you mind if I had a guard intrude on our life?' and I would answer-"

"Whatever my lord wishes is my command."

"Um, no, but nice try. I would say, 'Yes, in fact, I do mind!' Do you know what you'd say?"

"Yes."

"You'd say," Kagome continued as if he'd never spoken, warming up to her one-sided conversation, 'Well, in that case, what do you suggest?' and I would-"

"Regardless, the guard will be assigned," Sesshomaru cut her off before she could become too heated.

"What about when you're with us? Aren't you and Hana protection enough?" Kagome frowned at a green vine that was burrowing between the stones of the garden wall.

Sesshomaru didn't like her implication but knew what she meant. "He will remain outside of our private chambers and baths but within calling distance."

Kagome fidgeted several minutes in silence, staring pensively off into space and Sesshomaru wondered, not for the first time, if there was ever a time while she was awake when she could sit still _and _quietly at the same time. He wrapped long, graceful fingers over hers, and was not surprised when she chose that moment to speak.

"Do you really think Inuyasha would come after me?"

"In his missive, Miroku states that he has not yet given up on mating you," Sesshomaru pointed out with an eyebrow quirked in quiet disbelief.

"He didn't write that!" Kagome exclaimed, aghast.

"To a youkai, that is exactly what he wrote. I will not let you nor our pup come to harm, _however unintentional_, at the hands of a delusional hanyou."

"He wouldn't hurt us," Kagome muttered mulishly, glaring at him from the corners of her eyes.

Sesshomaru wanted to sigh but settled for blinking slowly. Relentlessly optimistic, Kagome was determined to believe the best about everyone even when, in his opinion, it was unwarranted. Her trusting nature was an endearing quality, one for which he was usually grateful; had it not been for her faith in innate goodness, she would not have allowed him into her heart. However, it was a weakness that had left silvering stripes down her neck, a weakness that could be easily exploited.

If a youkai wished to mate an already claimed female, the male would kill that female's current mate and any offspring, freeing up the female to bear his pups. Sesshomaru did not know if Inuyasha's youkai instincts ran that deeply but was not inclined to wait until it was too late to discover it was true. At the first sign of violence toward his pack, the hanyou would be dealt with, half-brother or not. Moreover, there was absolutely no way that he would allow Kagome to wheedle that information out of him; if Inuyasha had to be destroyed, then she would remain in the dark for as long as possible. The trauma could easily disrupt the fragile balance mother and child seemed to have found; Hana had warned him that, under no circumstance, was Kagome to come under duress. As much as he disliked admitting it, she still cared for that ignorant fool and his death, especially in her defense, would wound her. Let her think she'd already figured out what was bothering him and that the guard was an unnecessary caution. If the half-breed knew what was good for him, and Sesshomaru had his doubts, then he would stay in his forest and find his own female.

"I'm not going to change your mind, am I?" Kagome said, and though posed as a question, it came out as a statement.

"No." Sesshomaru softened his answer by brushing the tips of his fingers over her cheek, his eyes sparking as she shivered slightly. She leaned her face into his hand, lips tickling his palm as she planted a kiss at the base of his thumb. A burning ached raced through his arm and shot into his groin, and he'd sunk his hand into her hair and his tongue into her mouth before his brain had registered that he'd moved. Her fingers wriggled under his clothes, blunt nails scratching over skin that had suddenly developed a fever, leaving trails of stinging flesh and excitement.

He'd slid a knee between her legs, which had parted eagerly, her calves curling around his thighs as he crawled up her body, when a throat had cleared itself. The lovers froze and Kagome blushed furiously as she realized that her yukata was hanging off one shoulder, exposing a swollen, unbound breast. Sesshomaru growled, torn between the quandary of whether to tear out the offending throat or bite said breast. It was a tough decision, but the breast won out and he sucked the nipple into his mouth, nipping at the tightening areola and giving Kagome an unobscured view of Hana's disapproving face.

"My lady, if you do not wait until you've birthed that pup to continue your current course of action, I do not guarantee that the pup _will_ be born."

"O-okay," Kagome gasped breathlessly, pushing lightly against Sesshomaru's chest as he growled around her nipple, vibrating the sensitized flesh in an entirely too wanton and enticing sort of way.

"Two months, my lord," Hana said quietly, respectfully. "It is not that long."

Sesshomaru was inclined to disagree, but seeing as his mouth was busy, he settled for a noncommittal grunt. He supposed he should be grateful that her term seemed to be closer to five months than the typical nine months of a human or even the six and a half of a human bearing a hanyou. Still, two months before burying himself in her body was two months too long.

"Come, my lady, it is time for your medicine and afternoon tea," Hana tried again when the Lord Sesshomaru made no indication that he moving off of her patient. 'Males are the same the world over,' she whickered quietly, 'even taiyoukai with reputations for being cold and unemotional. Always thinking with their penises.' Her young patient wasn't much better; already her eyes had glazed over again with lust, the horse youkai's call to food falling on deaf ears. Hana pursed her lips, foreseeing a long residence for herself here in the heart of the Western Lands. Perhaps it would be a good idea if she strengthened the tincture in the event that these two could not keep their hands off of each other. In the meantime, it looked like she'd have to resort to force if she wanted to see this pup born.

Grasping the back of the lord's collars, she carefully dragged him off of his lady, ignoring his threatening snarl. She was not a renowned healer for nothing, and dealing with irate taiyoukai was par for the course. Adjust the lady's yukata so that she was decently covered, she lifted the female into her arms and sent the lord a stern glare that pulled the rug from underneath his frustrated, self-righteous anger. She'd had two boys of her own, after all, and could wield a glare better than most warriors could handle their swords.

Sesshomaru pulled himself together as the horse youkai entered the house through the garden door with his mate in her arms. 'That insolent horse is asking for a beating,' he growled to himself as he brushed bits of grass from his knees and headed inside for a cold bath. He knew he would never actually hurt the woman; he needed her to help with Kagome and if she successfully produced an heir, he would owe her too much. He didn't like the idea of owing anything to anyone, but then again, he'd never thought he would end up mating a human, even a not-quite-so-human like Kagome. Just her name brought to mind creamy skin and intoxicating scents, and he hastened his pace to the bath.

Torture, that's what this was. 'Maybe I should seek out my idiot brother to relieve a little of this pent-up energy by pounding him into the ground…and warn him away, of course,' he added quickly as a flash of Kagome's eyes, bright with irritation instead of desire, flashed in his mind. 'Any other lord would be able to dally with a concubine if unable to take pleasure with his mate,' he huffed. 'But no, I must have _that_ one.' Stripped and still quite erect, he lowered himself into the cold-water bath, only the narrowing of his eyes betraying his annoyance and frustration. Two months…

END

A/N: Okay, this is it. If I write a sequel, it won't be for a while. I have a one-shot and two longer fics brewing – all Sess/Kag. I like this pairing A LOT. Thanks for reading and reviewing, or just even just reading!


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